THE 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM 

AS DEMONSTRATED IN THE 

LIGHT OF THE CONSTITUTION 
AND LAWS OF NATURE 



BY 

REV. H. H. MOORE, D. D. 



'RIGHT ^ 



AUG 11 1890, 



"The laws of nature are the thoughts of God." 



CINCINNATI : 

CRANSTON AND STOWE 

NEW YORK: 

HUNT AND EATON 

1890. 




Copyright 
By CRANSTON & STOWE, 

1890. 



1 

go 



DEDICATION. 



Though your profession is that of music, yet such is your love 
and aptitude for philosophical studies, that 
I take pleasure in 

3@fliuatmij to jou tfcte Volume, 

feeling assured that you are able to master its contents 
and defend them. 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



The volume herewith given to the public 
originated in a very simple manner. In conver- 
sation with a clergyman concerning the papers 
which the Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Dr. Field, and 
Cardinal Manning, on the one side, and R. G. 
Ingersoll on the other, had given to the public 
on the subject of religion, the writer remarked : 

" I have not read the papers. They must be 
very able." 

u Yes, they are; and Dr. says he does 

not think that Ingersoll is answered, and that he 
does not see how he can be." 

This conversation started in the mind of the 
author a ripple of thought, which, for some 
months, has rolled on, gathering such force as 
it could by the way, and now it returns to equi- 
librium in these few prefatory remarks. 

Infidel arguments, it matters not how old 
they may be, if presented in a new dress should 
receive such attention as the spirit of the times 
may demand. The task we undertook to per- 
form was somewhat difficult. It was important 

5 



6 



PREFACE. 



that we keep in sight of the game we were pur- 
suing, or, at least, keep on its sinuous and me- 
andering track, and, at the same time, put in 
logical order a thread of argument for the de- 
fense of the faith of our fathers. Could we have 
found in our library even the main reasons for 
accepting Christ as our Messiah, here spread be- 
fore the reader, this volume would not have 
appeared. We have kept constantly before us 
the average reader who would likely be inter- 
ested in such subjects, and have written for the 
express purpose of rendering him some assist- 
ance in his troubles. 

Believing that Christianity is an embodiment 
of truth, infidel attacks upon it give us no 
anxiety. It is not desirable that religion should 
ever settle down into the calmness of a sea of 
molten lead ; for then it might cease to be a 
matter of interest to anybody. Rather let the 
agitation go on, even though it rise to a storm; 
for all we care for is, as is possible, to be mas- 
ters of the situation. This battle has already 
been fought a thousand times, and a thousand 
more fields may witness a renewal of the strug- 
gle. What matter is, as a reality, in the physical 
world, truth is in the intellectual, and neither 



PREFACE. 7 

can be annihilated. Our task would have been 
easier could we have presented our argument as 
an independent line of thought ; but we could 
not avoid bearding the lion in his den without 
awakening suspicion that we feared a close con- 
flict. In the attention we have given to govern- 
ment by law, and the problem of evil, the strong- 
hold of Atheism has received our most respectful 
attention. We have expressed our own views, 
given to nature our own interpretation, and have 
not always shown the highest regard for the 
beaten track or for great names. Some of our 
positions will challenge attack, and the sooner 
and more thoroughly that which is unsound is 
swept away the better. Our argument, in some 
of its main features, has not, as far as we know, 
been worked out before, and if we are not mis- 
taken it gives a breadth and conclusiveness to 
the proofs for Christianity which can not be 
reached by any other course. Of this, however, 
the public must be the judge. We invite criti- 
cism ; and if truth shall be the tools used, we 
care not how keen their edge. 

THE AUTHOR. 

St. Petersburg, Pa., May, 1889. 



i 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION, Pages 21-31 

CHAPTER I. 

INCIDENTAL CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO ATHEISM. 

1. The Affirmative Elements of Infidelity have never been 

put into Logical Form. 

2. The Tendency of Humanity, in all Ages, has been to 

Worship. 

3. The Experiences of Dr. John Tyndall with Atheism. 

4. How Baron von Humboldt may have driited into Atheism. 

5. The Value of Humboldt's Experience as a Basis of Infidel- 

ity for Others. 

6. The Religious Faculty in Man Susceptible of either Growth 

or Extinction. 

7. The Absence of Affirmative Principles at the Base of Infi- 

delity Fatal to its Claims. 

8. Materialism necessarily leads to Atheism. 

9. Origin of the Pantheism of Spinoza. 
10. The Agnosticism of Herbert Spencer, 
n. The Helps and Hindrances to Faith. 

Pages, 33-45 

CHAPTER II. 

R. G. INGERSOLL, THE ACCREDITED CHAMPION OF INFIDELITY. 

1. His Infidelity primarily vested in Himself. 

2. The Peculiar Characteristics of the Man. 

3. A Series of Perversions of Scripture and Nature lead to 

Atheism. 

4. The Miscellaneous Character of His Acquisitions. 

5. Personal Disqualifications to appreciate Religion. 

9 



IO 



CONTENTS. 



6. Personal Characteristics of the Skeptic. 

7. The Intellectual a Secondary Power in the Man. 

8. He can form no Idea of Faith as a Religious Element. 

Pages, 46-58 

CHAPTER III. 

THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE FACTS PRODUCED AS A SUPPORT 
TO INFIDELITY. 

1. Invective as a Substitute for Argument. 

2. The Skeptic's Conception of the World we live in. 

3. Indulgence the Skeptic's only Conception of Government. 

4. The Ideal God whose Existence the Infidel could admit. 

5. The Vain Struggles of the Infidel to satisfy Himself. 

6. Nature and Revelation objected to on the Same Grounds. 

7. The Relation God sustains to the Universe. 

8. Superficial Conceptions of Nature. 

Pages, 59- 7I 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS CONSIDERED. 

1. The Personal Relation of the Infidel to Religion. 

2. The Value of Subjective Arguments against Religion. 

3. Arguments which might be legitimately urged by Infidels 

are neglected. 

4. If Ingersoll is a Model Man, Christianity must be False. 

5. The Mental Characteristics needed in this Discussion. 

6. Bold Assertions not to be substituted for Candid Con- 

victions. 

7. In the Absence of Principle, the Argument varies with the 

Changing Moods of the Skeptic. 

Pages, 72-84 

CHAPTER V. 

THE IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT AGAINST CHRISTIANITY 
AND PAGANISM. 

1. The Position of the Atheist stated 

2. In this System of Atheism Objections to the Bible occupy a 

Secondary Place. 



CONTENTS. 



II 



3. The Infidel's Conception of what the Creator and Governor 

of the World would be did One exist. 

4. Atheism the Outcome of Paganish Conceptions of God. 

5. The Death-blow to Polytheism. 

6. The Real Battle-ground of Modern Atheism. 

7. In the Basis of this Infidelity there is Nothing New or 

Strange. 

8. The Observed Facts of Nature should be interpreted in the 

Light of its Constitution. 

Pages, 85-98 

CHAPTER VI. 

A FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ATHEISTIC THOUGHT. 

1. Nature primarily the Basis of Infidelity. 

2. Atheism is a Misconception of the Facts of Nature. 

3. A Misconception of Providence tends to Atheism. 

4. As the Constitution of Nature is perfect, it will not admit 

of Change. 

Pages, gg-in 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE CORRECT INTERPRETATION OF NATURE DISSIPATES 
ATHEISM. 

1. The Constitution of Matter. 

2. The Perfection of Matter demonstrated. 

3. Apparent Evils may be an Absolute Good. 

4. Matter per se the Source of Energy. 

5. The Existence of a Universe of Things does not infringe 

upon the Being of God, but serves as a Revelation of 
His Power and Godhead. 

Pages, 112-124 

CHAPTER VIII. 

NATURE'S INTERPRETATION OF ITSELF IS NOT ATHEISTIC. 

1. The Skeptic avoids discussing the Constitution of Nature. 

2. Nature affords Proof that its Structure is Constitutional. 

3. Any Collision of Parts with the Fixed Elements of the Con- 

stitution of Nature causes Confusion and Trouble. 



12 



CONTENTS. 



4. Atheism can exist only in the Absence of Law and Gov- 

ernment. 

5. In the Constitution of Nature Necessary Facts occupy a 

Conspicuous Place. 

6. The Excellency of the Constitution of Nature is seen in 

the Fact that Obedience to her Laws secures the High- 
est Good. 

Pages, 125-136 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE TESTIMONY OF NATURE TO THE REIGN OF EAW. 

1. God reveals Himself through Nature to his Creatures. 

2. The Substance of Nature is composed of Various Elements. 

3. The Constitution of Nature is an Expression of the Divine 

Will. 

4. Benevolence occupies a Conspicuous Place in the Divine 

Plan. 

5. The Designs of Infinite Wisdom may be seen in the Reign 

of Law. 

6. The Operations of a Law of Nature have been modified for 

the General Good. 

7. The Plan devised for furnishing the Earth with a Suitable 

Atmosphere indicates Design and Benevolence. 

Pages, 137-149 

CHAPTER X. 

THE MISERIES OF CRIME PROCLAIM A MORAL GOVERNOR OF 
THE WORLD. 

1. It is conceded that this is a Degenerate World. 

2. It is Desirable, Fit, and Becoming that Misery should be 

the Attendant upon Crime. 

3. As a Part of the Structure of the Universe, the Conse- 

quences of Virtue and Vice are Matters of Necessity. 

4. Happiness and Misery, in their Completeness, are not Sub- 

ject to the Control of their Environments. 

5. Virtue in this World by no Means exempts its Possessor 

from its Calamities. 



CONTENTS. 



13 



6. All Things considered, Creation was a Dictate of Wisdom. 

7. The Ingress of Evil into the World. 

8. The Problem of Moral Evil. 

9. The Creator's Verdict upon His Own Work is that it is 

"Good." 
10. The Problem of Hell. 

Pages, 150-162 

CHAPTER XI. 
THE PROBLEM OF THE SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 

1. A Glad Recognition of a Truth expressed by the Skeptic. 

2. The Problem of Animal Life. 

3. The Essence of Substance is in no Case Subject to Obser- 

vation. 

4. The Problem of Animal Food. 

5. Broad Views of the Universe dissipate Trivial Objections. 

6. Virtue may be the Occasion or Cause of Suffering. 

7. The Mind is disciplined and developed by Toil and Suf- 

fering. 

8. Apparent Evils may be Real Blessings. 

Pages, 163-178 

CHAPTER XII. 

I,AW COMMENSURATE WITH THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. 

1. The Relation of the Creator to the Created surpasses Human 

Comprehension. 

2. In the Reign of Law we see Transcendental Intelligence, 

Design, and Power; and these unerringly suggest a 
Divine Personality. 

3. Law pertains as rigidly to the Formation of Character as to 

Government of the Heavens. 

4. Apparent Irregularities imply no Suspension of Law. 

5. Law is an Incorporation of Infinite Intelligence and De- 

sign. 

6. Man, as an Intelligence, made to appreciate Intelligence in 

Nature. 

Pages, 179-192 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

INFIDELITY GENERATED BY A PERVERSE SPIRIT. 

1. The One Advantage the Skeptic possesses in this Discussion. 

2. The Infidel's Low Conception of Man places him below the 

Plane of Religion. 

3. A True and Elevated Conception of Man Essential to a 

Correct Understanding of Religion. 

4. The Conscience is an Oracle in the Moral World. 

5. Sacrifice is an Element of the Constitution of Nature. 

6. The Infinite Creator occupies a Realm all His Own, as He 

Only is Divine. 

Pages, 193-205 

CHAPTER XIV. 

ATHEISM IS INTRENCHED IN THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 

1. Atheism denies the Doctrine of Man's Free Agency. 

2. Materialistic Philosophy embraces the Idea of Necessity. 

3. The Freedom of the Human Will. 

4. The Doctrine of Necessity expounded. 

5. The Doctrine of Necessity can be clearly seen only in its 

Application. 

6. The Doctrine of Necessity has as thoroughly corrupted 

Theology as Philosophy. 

Pages, 206-219 

CHAPTER XV. 

THEOLOGY HAS BEEN VITIATED BY THE DOCTRINE OF 
NECESSITY. 

1. Theology has suffered from its Alliance with Philosophy. 

2. Theological Necessity logically leads to Atheism. 

\ 3. The Doctrine of Necessity is the Same, though it may spring 
from Different Roots. 

4. The Wonder is that Any Man can be a Fatalist and a 

Christian. 

5. Fatalism is rooted in Idealistic, Materialistic, and Theolog- 

ical Philosophy. 

6. Idealism refuted. 

Pages, 220-234 



CONTENTS. 



15 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY OVERTHROWN BY MAN'S EREE 
AGENCY. 

1. The Different Roots of the Doctrine of Necessity. 

2. The Ground of Human Responsibility. 

3. There can be no Escape from the Moral Government 

of God. 

4. The Different Powers or Departments of the Mind. 

5. The Relation of Motives to the Mind. 

6. The Mind is a Source of Energy. 

7. The Aspect of Government from the Stand-point of Free-will. 

8. Should the Hazards of Possible Sin have been taken and 

Man created? 

Pages, 235-248 

CHAPTER XVII. 

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY FURTHER CONSIDERED. 

1. The Argument stated. 

2. The Basal Elements of Man's Accountability. 

3. The Nature of Virtue. 

4. The Futile Discussion of the Will with a False Psychology. 

5. The Calamities of a Bad Education. 

Pages, 249-262 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE POWER OF CHARACTER IN THE MORAE WORED. 

1. Man as seen* from the Stand-point of Necessity. 

2. Moral Law in the Spiritual Kingdom. 

3. The Mind's Capacity for Joy and Woe. 

4. Truth is obscured by the Present Mixed Condition of 

Things. 

5. The Union of Liberty and Law in the Formation of Character 

6. The Harmony of the Bible and Philosophy in Regard to 

Character. 

7. The Outcome of Character regarded as Consequences, not - 

Rewards and Punishments. 

8. One Ground of Necessity no Better than Another. 

9. The Individuality and Independence of Man. 

Pages, 263-276 



i6 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INFIDELITY AS THE OUTCOME OF THE PERVERSIONS AND MIS- 
INTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

1. They best understand the Bible who live the Life it de- 

scribes. 

2. The Ignorance and Bad Conduct of Men, Infidels substitute 

for Christianity. 

3. Faith, the Root-principle of Religion, they falsely represent 

as the Cause of Persecution. 
^ 4. In the Absence of Argument, Religion is caricatured. 

5. The Warnings given to the Jews of the Consequences of 

Idolatry are represented as Causeless Curses. 

6. In its Attempts to pervert Scripture, Infidelity makes It- 

self Silly. 

7. The Real Questions embraced in Christianity are often mis- 

apprehended. 

8. A False Philosophy is Sure to pervert Religious Truth. 

9. Infidelity utterly fails to grasp the Higher Elements of the 

Mind. 

Pages, 277-290 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE IDENTITY OF NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 

1. Nature and the Bible as Different Witnesses. 

2. The Use Christ, as a Teacher, made of Nature. 

3. The Validity of this Reasoning admitted by the Skeptic. 

4. Nature considered as a Revelation. 

5. The Testimony of the Two Witnesses Important only where 

They touch the Same Subject. 

6. Nature's Testimony More than its Analogy to Religion. 

Pages, 291-302 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE AGREEMENT OF NATURE AND REVELATION AS WITNESSES 
TO THE SAME TRUTH. 

1. A Lament for the Fate of the Skeptic. 

2. Religion can be understood only as we give to Nature and 

the Bible the Broadest Interpretations. 



CONTENTS. 



17 



3. The Harmony of Nature and Revelation in the Testimony 

They give in Regard to the Nature and Destiny of Man. 

4. The Constitution of Nature embodies within Itself the 

Wisdom and Energy and Benevolence of God, which 
aiterwards, in Written Form, found Expression in the 
Word. 

Pages, 303-316 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE OI,D TESTAMENT. 

1. To Modern Eyes Obscurity rests upon All Antiquity. 

2. Nations incorporate the Spirit of their Times in their Works. 

3. The Origin of the Jewish Nation one of the best Authenti- 

cated Facts of History. 

4. The Condition of the Hebrew Mind at the Time of the 

Exodus. 

5. The Policy pursued by Moses for the Elevation of this 

People. 

6. The Significance of Mount Sinai. 

7. The Decalogue. 

8. The Abrahamic Covenant. 

Pages, 317-332 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR REUGION? 

„ I. The Indefinite Aim of Infidel Warfare. 

2. The Proper Relation of Church, Theology, and Religion to 

Each Other. 

3. Theology as distinguished from the Gospel. 

4. Theology, in the Form of Philosophy, loses its True Char- 

acter. 

5. Theology should be kept within its Own Sacred Limits. 

6. The Relation of Theology to Philosophy. 

7. What may be learned from the Experience of the Past. 

Pages, 333-348 

CONCLUSION, Pages, 349-361 

2 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



" Then there are such things woven into the texture of 
man, as the feelings of Awe, Reverence, Wonder ;■ and not 
alone the sexual love just referred to, but the love of the beau- 
tiful, physical, and moral in Nature, Poetry, and Art. There 
is also that deep-set feeling which, since the earliest dawn of 
history, and probably for ages prior to all history, incorporated 
itself in the Religions of the. world. You who have escaped 
from these regions into the high-and-dry light of the intellect, 
may deride them ; but in so doing you deride accidents of form 
merely, and fail to touch the immovable basis of the religious 
sentiment in the nature of man. To yield this sentiment rea- 
sonable satisfaction, is the problem of problems at the present 
hour." 

JOHN TYNDALL. 

20 



INTRODUCTION. 



IF religion be a reality, it is an element in the con- 
stitution of the universe, and it must be of such 
a character in its relation to God and man, time and 
eternity, that the proofs of its genuineness will be abun- 
dant and ever accessible to the mind. The first ques- 
tion religion suggests, refers to the existence of a 
personal God as the Creator and Governor of the 
worldi Is the evidence we have of his existence of 
such a character as should convince and give content 
to every candid inquirer ? The question has its pecu- 
liarities. It differs from all others of human expe- 
rience ; it must be examined solely in its own light ; 
and only as we keep these considerations in view will 
we be able to decide what is admissible and conclu- 
sive as proof that a God exists. But when we put our- 
selves fully where the proof is, we shall find it com- 
ing in upon us in floods of light. 

The idea of God has occupied the human mind 
longer, more fully, and more universally than any 
other. This idea has taken on a great variety of 
forms in different ages of the world, and among dif- 
ferent nations ; and in this fact may be seen its tenac- 
ity and persistence. How came this conception of a 
God to occupy so vast a space in the intellectual and 
moral history of mankind? A phenomenon of such 
wide significance demands a rational and full expla- 
nation. So vast and near and urgent is this question 

21 



22 



INTROD UCTION. 



to humanity, that all races and nations have felt com- 
pelled to think of it, and apply to it the principles of 
reasoning they use on other subjects. 

In looking out upon the world, the savage and the 
philosopher are alike oppressed with the idea of the 
Infinite ; only the mightier the capacity of the philoso- 
pher, the more deeply he feels the weight of its sig- 
nificance. "I tremble," said the cold, iron-nerved 
Kant, "when I think of the vastness of the universe." 
Such is the constitution of nature that only by self- 
annihilation can the mind relieve itself of the con- 
sciousness of existence as a part of the universe and 
of its infinite environments. 

The ancient Hindu deified this conception of the 
infinite, and called it Varuna — "the broad and bright 
expanse of heaven." The same idea took form as the 
supreme God among the Greeks and Romans, bearing 
the title Zeus and Zeus Pater (Jupiter) — that is, 
Heaven Father, This conception of the infinite kept 
its hold for ages upon the minds of millions and mill- 
ions of the most advanced thinkers of the human 
family ; and, as a phenomenon of nature, does not this 
stupendous fact signify something ? And, further, this 
idea of the infinite never had so deep a hold upon the 
minds of men — men of all nations — as at the present 
time. No one who thinks can free himself from it. 

Socially, man seems to be about midway between 
the extremes of the littleness and the greatness of all 
we can conceive of the infinite. The chemist tells 
me that a molecule of water, the smallest particle 
of water that can exist, is composed of two atoms 
of oxygen and one atom of hydrogen ; and I ask him 
to show me these atoms, but he replies : " I can 't do 
it ; they are too small. In a drop of water there are, 



IN'IRODUCTION. 



perhaps, millions of them; as atoms they belong to 
the 'unseen universe.' " I then ask him to tell me what 
their essence is, as distinguished from the essence of 
carbon and nitrogen — that by union they form water — 
and again he tells me that their essence belongs 
wholly to the realm of the infinite, and that he knows 
nothing about it. I then ask him .to show me the 
entity of some kind of matter ; and again he confesses 
that he can no more put on exhibition an entity of 
matter than he can show me a spirit, or a mind, or 
the life of a tree or bird. 

It is thus matter teaches me by its aggregations 
that what we know of it is a projection, or an outcrop- 
ping, of the real from a plethoric and prolific infinite ; 
the little we have of it constitutes our world of sense, 
and serves as proof positive and absolute of the ex- 
istence of a real, infinite unknown. As this world is 
substantive in nature, the infinite is also; "the 
things that are seen are temporal, but the things that 
are not seen are eternal." 

As I look out of my window I see in every spire 
of grass, in every opening bud, in every bird that 
sings, in the beasts that crop the fields, and in the 
passing traveler, the ingress or the breaking through 
into this world of a world of Life. The first step I 
take to ascertain what these different kinds of life are, 
or from whence they came, I find myself standing on 
the extreme edge of a brink, beyond which all is infi- 
nite and unknown ; not infinite nonentity, but an 
infinite rich in its fullness. The organic world is 
proof that the vital world has, to some extent, incor- 
porated itself with matter, and by that means multi- 
plied and extended its dominion. The little we know of 
the vital world indicates the vastness of its infinity. 



24 



I NT ROD UCTION. 



The proper sphere of the mind is the realm of 
truth and ideas, and as such it belongs far more to 
the infinite world than it does to this world of sense. 
I step out and look upon the star Vega, an orb thou- 
sands of times larger than our sun, and 16,000,000,- 
000,000 of miles distant from it. I notice a luminous 
spot in the far-away heavens beyond, and turning my 
great reflector upon it, a field of stars opens up before 
me ; and as I advance toward them, and look into the 
infinite beyond, I discover another luminous spot 
on the sky; I find that this also is a field of 
thousands of stars, and that as neighbors they are 
trillions of miles apart. I go no further, for I find 
that thought staggers beneath its burden of the 
infinite. 

But the word infinite is an extreme abstraction, 
and signifies nothing unless there is some thing or 
being that is infinite. There can not be an infinite 
number of stars ; for great as the number might be, one 
or two more might be added. The globe is composed of 
a definite number of atoms, but we can conceive of an 
addition to that number. We can not conceive of ad- 
ditions to time or space ; but ontologically these are 
nothing, and the word infinite, as applied to them, sim- 
ply means unlimited. Then, to be of practical value, 
our ideas of the infinite suggested by the universe must 
carry the mind to a Being, an Intelligence, who has 
revealed himself to us in and by means of infinite, or 
rather by divine, attributes. If this world is the work- 
manship of a divine hand, the stamp of the infinite 
must be upon every part of it, and it must serve as a 
revelation of the attributes of its Maker. 

As we look at the world, does it not suggest to us 
infinite power or energy? If each atom is a center 



INTRODUCTION. 



25 



and source of power, how vast must be the energy 
locked up in the earth.! Think of the^ energy dis- 
played in the vital world. A large part of the surface 
of the globe, at one time and another, has been wrought 
into organic structures. Think of the energy exist- 
ing in the universe, expressed by the words attrac- 
tion and gravitation. Is it not infinite? or far more 
than we can conceive the infinite to be ? 

We have now two factors before us, — the infinite, 
and infinite power or energy. But think of the uni- 
verse, infinite in time and space, with an infinite en- 
ergy, blind and reckless, turned loose in it. Would 
not the result be another infinite — infinite chaos and 
confusion ? 

But power is not more conspicuous on the face of 
creation than intelligence, design, and purpose. Was 
it a happen-so that silicon possesses such a nature 
that it tends to reduce the matter of the globe to rock, 
and that nitrogen possesses such a nature that it 
tends to prevent the formation of any mass or solid 
substance, and the mixed world, as we have it, is the 
result of these opposing agencies ? Was it a happen- 
so that the vital world was correlated to the abundant 
elements, oxygen, carbon, silicon, etc., thus giving us 
an organic world of infinite variety and of vast ex- 
tent? Had life been related only to a few of the 
scarcer kinds of matter, as phosphorus, fluorine, 
iodine, etc., the globe would have been nearly a desert 
waste. 

In the human body there are millions of different 
organs, nerves included, and yet these are so corre- 
lated as to form an organic unit. Is not the structure 
and correlation of the heart, the lungs, the veins, and 
arteries an expression of purpose? In the diversities 

3 



26 



IN TROD UCTION. 



of their structure and functions can not we perceive 
the action of a will carrying into effect designs ? Was 
it a happen-so that the kidneys, the liver, and the 
heart, as organs, are so thoroughly adapted to different 
kinds of work, and yet mutually dependent upon 
each other? Wisdom may be seen on a still higher 
plane in the matter of instinct. Wisdom of a kind— 
ready made — was incorporated in the bee ; of another 
kind in the ant; of another kind in the spider; 
of another kind in the beaver; and of other kinds 
innumerable, in birds, insects, and beasts. Instinct 
forms a vast world of fixed, incorporate wisdom. From 
whence did it come? Is it not derived from that 
infinite wisdom which is one of the factors of the 
Infinite? Man is not thus endowed with wisdom; 
he has no instinct proper; but he is so constituted 
that he can think, perceive, frame ideas, compare 
one with another, reason, and acquire knowledge. 
To the bee, beaver, and bird is given wisdom ready 
made; to man was given a mind, and by think- 
ing and putting his thoughts together he may become 
wise. Think of the wisdom which so framed the mind 
that it could acquire knowledge. We have now in 
hand the infinite, — infinite power, will, and infinite 
wisdom. Let us see if to these powers additions can 
be made. Think of what infinite power and infinite 
cunning could have done with this universe had they 
been conjoined with infinite malignity. In such a 
case this would have been constitutionally a world of 
positive evil, whereas, as it is, there is no evil in its 
constitution. Its fundamental elements are all good — 
so pronounced by their Creator. The evils which pre- 
vail everywhere are all negative ; each one is simply 
the absence of some positive and possible good. Sin 



INTROD UCTION. 



27 



is the great source of trie world's evils ; and what is 
sin but the absence of a holiness which might have 
been? Here, then, we find another factor — goodness, 
or benevolence — which must be regarded as a con- 
stituent of the Infinite. 

How is it possible that energy, wisdom, will, and 
beneficence can meet in the same source and act as a 
unit for the same end, unless that will designate a 
Person? Can such an Infinite be otherwise than a 
Being divine in essence, self-existent, independent, 
and eternal ? Whether a God exist or not, look which 
way we will, the world holds up before our face all 
the essential attributes of such a being. Is it con- 
ceivable that Energy, Wisdom, Will, Design, and Be- 
neficence can be each an isolated existence, acting in- 
dependently? Could beneficence be the outcome of 
such a chaos? "No man hath seen God at any time;" 
and why? Because being is a part of the infinite 
unknown. We are not permitted to see the entity of 
matter, nor a vital entity, nor a mind, nor being of 
any kind or order. Judging of substance from its 
phenomena, as we must, there is nothing nearer to 
us, or more manifest, than the infinite God. His at- 
tributes of power, wisdom, will, and goodness are 
ever present and manifest to the mind that can see. 
In no direction can we look without seeing evidence 
of their existence. The evidence of the action of 
these attributes can be as clearly seen in a mustard- 
seed as in the sun — in the instinct of the bee as the 
song of an archangel. 

L,et it be kept in mind that the words power, wis- 
dom, will, and beneficence, signify nothing unless we 
postulate a Being who is energetic, wise, volitive, and 
beneficent; and it is not possible for these attributes 



28 



INTRODUCTION. 



to exist at all unless they exist together as properties 
of the same fperson. Beneficence, unless associated 
with wisdom, will, and power, could not be beneficent. 
Wisdom without will and power and beneficence 
would be of no value to anybody. We are therefore 
driven to the necessity of conceiving the infinite that 
is manifest before our eyes in the universe as proof of 
the existence of a divine, self-existent, and eternal 
Being as the creator and the cause of all the various 
properties of which it is composed. This view we 
must take, or regard the elements of this infinite as 
having no relation to each other; and as mere ab- 
stractions, floating around loose, they amount to 
nothing. 

On the basis of the above considerations, we as- 
sume that a God exists; and if so, it is self-evident 
that he exists as a Person, and that he is no part of 
the universe he made, nor of its forces. He is sepa- 
rate and distinguished from the infinite in the world 
he made, because he is divine. As the sole divinity in 
existence, his nature creates a realm which is all his 
own. He is necessarily separate and distinct from all 
other beings and things. He is the ever-existent / 
Am> and this can be said only of him. He is also in- 
dependent and eternal, and in these respects he is iso- 
lated from all created things. As his plane of being 
is divine — a plane which nothing else can occupy — 
his existence does not interfere with other forms of 
existence, as they occupy different and lower planes. 
Matter, life, and mind, each having a realm of its own, 
do not interfere with each other. A world of ex- 
tended matter can not come into collision with unex- 
tended mind, and Divinity alone can occupy the 
throne of the eternal. 



INTRODUCTION. 



29 



The first approach which God made toward his 
creatures may be seen in the impress of Himself, 
which he placed upon creation, and which may ?ww 
be seen there — his energy, wisdom, will, and benefi- 
cence. The watchmaker is no part of his watch, yet 
that instrument serves as a presentation of the skill he 
has incorporated in it. It is precisely in this sense 
the universe presents us its divine author. 

The will of God can not be more clearly expressed 
anywhere, nor in regard to anything, than in the for- 
mation of a molecule of water or the structure of an 
acorn. Though the water and the acorn are no part 
of God, he has put and left his power and will and 
wisdom there, and there we now find them. Is it not 
a necessity that God should be for ever and ever in- 
corporate in his own wisdom, power, will, and benefi- 
cence? He is not, then, far from any one of us. 

Now, let us gather up these great truths, which we 
have found were imbedded in the constitution of na- 
ture, and see if they can not also be found integrated 
in the constitution of religion. What is religion? 
Subjectively, it embraces the spiritual and moral con- 
dition of the mind and the heart in their relation to 
God and man; and objectively, it takes on the form 
of theology, or the intellectual views we entertain 
in regard to God. In its last analysis religion ex- 
presses the proper relation of God and man, and the 
relation of man and man. What those relations are 
is expressed by the word love — supreme love to God 
and equal love to man. 

God sustains a relation to everything he has cre- 
ated, especially the relation of Governor; and the 
elements of the government are in every case modified 
so as to be adapted to the thing governed. Matter is 



3o 



INTROD UCTION. 



governed by physical law, and each different kind of 
matter is under the peculiar laws which are expressive 
of its own essence. The laws of life are not at all 
the laws of matter. The laws of intellect are pe- 
culiar to mind. Religion implies the prevalence of 
a law which binds the creature to his Creator. The 
different parts of material nature are bound together 
by its laws. Religion binds the human family to- 
gether, and also to their God. The constitution of 
the universe, then, embraces as one of its elements 
the religious principle. In this sense considered, re- 
ligion acts with the force of law ; and as law it con- 
trols its deparment as other departments are controlled 
by their laws. Thus one principle — law — is made to 
touch every atom, every thing, and every being in 
the universe. All these great truths can be read with 
equal clearness in nature and revelation. 

The stupendous fact has become patent to every- 
body that man, because of sin, has become an alien 
from his Maker. When, as in his case, the religious 
element of the constitution of the universe has be- 
come subverted, either the Creator must abandon man 
to his fate or a special effort must be made to bring 
him once more under the law of love. This law can 
be established in his nature only by the action upon 
him of the power of infinite love. We see here and 
there in the world marks of power, signals of wisdom, 
evidence of will, and tokens of benevolence; but 
man's restoration to God must be a work of love. 
John writes as a psychologist when he says: "We 
love God because he first loved us." As the divinity 
became incorporate at first in the constitution of na- 
ture, it afterwards, to meet a special emergency, be- 
came incarnate in humanity. 



INTRODUCTION. 



31 



All the attributes of God, made manifest in crea- 
tion, are again revealed in another form in the sacred 
Scriptures. In the Gospel the spiritual and moral 
elements — the parts fallen man needed the most — have 
been made pre-eminently conspicuous. Because man 
could not bring himself back to his Maker, and restore 
the damage sin had wrought in his nature — extin- 
guishing spiritual life — the divine One came to him, 
removed all legal barriers out of his way, and placed 
the needed help — the quickening Spirit — within his 
reach. The word was proclaimed, the quickening 
Spirit attended it, and pardon was given to the peni- 
tent and believing. Religion is salvation ; a holy life 
is a meetness for the heavenly inheritance. Salvation 
is not a transfer from earth to heaven, but a deliver- 
ance from sin, and the reception of spiritual life. Con- 
sequently it is a ^-creation. It is God doing his first 
work over again, and placing the alien once more 
under the religious element of the constitution of 
nature. Such a character is salvation, and not a soul 
will be lost which would know and enjoy heaven 
if there. 

The gospel then, religion, is an expression of the 
moral element of the constitution of nature ; and when 
this fact is fully realized, an end will come to all forms 
of infidelity; and carping criticisms on Moses or on 
the translation of a text of Scripture will excite only 
contempt. 



Anatomy of Atheism. 



CHAPTER I. 

INCIDENTAL CAUSES WHICH LEAD TO ATHEISM. 

They eat 

Their daily bread and draw the breath of heaven 
Without or thought or thanks. Heaven's roof to them 
Is but a painted ceiling, hung with lamps — 
Nb more — that lights them to their purposes. 
They wander loose about ; they nothing see, 
Themselves except, and creatures like themselves, 
Short-lived, short-sighted, impotent to save. 
To their dissolute spirits, soon or late, 
Destruction cometh, like an armed man, 
Or like a dream of murder in the night, 
Withering their mortal faculties, and breaking 
The bones of all their pride. —Charges Lamb. 

§i. The Affirmative Elements of Infidelity 
have never been put into logical form. 

If Atheism, as a system of thought, is com- 
posed of a body of wisdom which the world should 
accept as affording the right interpretation of na- 
ture, especially of man and his destiny, it must 
rest upon a broad basis of primal, affirmative, self- 
evident, or philosophical truths, exclusively its 
own. Atheism, as given us, is a negative, and no 

33 



34 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



structure, of any kind, can be built of such ma- 
terial. We are aware that the clamorous advo- 
cates of unbelief have failed to set in order foi 
our examination its positive elements, if it have 
any; but as it is possible that this defect may 
arise from negligence and not the baselessness of 
the system itself, we have felt it our duty to in- 
stitute an inquiry into this important question. 
If we take Atheism as it has been given to us by 
its most renowned devotees, and find that it is 
rooted in irrelevant, personal, and transient con- 
siderations, and not in self-evident or philosoph- 
ical and eternal realities, we shall be compelled to 
conclude that there is nothing in it of permanent 
importance. We are all the more encouraged to 
look into this matter, because every form of skep- 
ticism — especially the scientific — tends to practi- 
cal Atheism ; and if we can cut the tap-root of the 
ugly plant, the stalk will be likely to wither 
and die. 

§2. The Tendency of Humanity, in Aix Ages, 
has been to Worship. 

Men have generally, everywhere and in all 
ages of the world's history, manifested a tendency 
to worship, and the being which stood highest in 
their estimation has been the recipient of their 
first devotions. In ignorance of nature's laws, 
uncounted millions of our race have, by personi- 
fying and deifying its forces, worshiped a multi- 
plicity of gods. The prevalence and force of this 



INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 



35 



tendency of humanity may be seen in the 
fact that the most costly and magnificent struc- 
tures of all ancient nations have been temples 
consecrated to the worship of some god, true or 
false. 

We are therefore led to conclude that Athe- 
ism, more than any other form of unbelief, has a 
subjective origin; that it is a device, invented by 
the mind, to close up a conscious vacuum that is 
there; it is humanity giving the lie to itself, wrig- 
gling to become what it was not made to be, and 
in this way it affords proof of a diseased or de- 
ranged nature. It is an attempt to suppress or 
smother out of existence, or at least render inact- 
ive, the powers of the mind which, with great 
force, have led all races of the human family de- 
voutly to recognize a Supreme Being. All idea 
of responsibility for the secret thoughts and pur, 
poses of the mind can be got rid of only as the 
existence of a God is denied; and success in this 
undertaking, were it possible, would react in the 
greatest moral calamity that could come upon us. 
Atheism leaves the inward man a desolation, soli- 
tary and alone. It renders impossible all concep- 
tions of holiness which is free from the taint of 
impurity. 

Atheism, which is the inevitable result of such 
a destruction or perversion of the powers of the 
mind, is, of course, without any legitimate, positive 
foundation ; it is the bad odor which follows death 
and decay. 



36 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§3. The Experience of Dr. John Tyndali, with 
Atheism. 

The following language, used by Professor 
Tyndall in the Preface to his famous Belfast Ad- 
dress, indicates that he had taken a careful survey 
of the ground above indicated. He says: "In 
connection with the charge of Atheism, I would 
make one remark. Christian men are proved by 
their writings to have their hours of weakness and 
doubt, and men like myself share in their own way 
these variations of mood and tense. Were the re- 
ligious moods of many of my assailants the only 
alternate ones, I do not know how the claims of 
material Atheism upon my allegiance might be. 
Probably they would be very strong. But as it is, 
I have noticed, during years of self-observation, 
that it is not in hours of clearness and vigor that 
this doctrine commends itself to my mind ; that in 
the presence of stronger and healthier thought it 
ever dissolves and disappears, as offering no solu- 
tion of the mystery in which we dwell and of which 
we form a part." 

The statement of Dr. Tyndall that the most 
devout Christians are, at times, assailed with doubt, 
will not be denied ; and this fact, which he collates 
with his own experience, ought to give us a clear 
insight into some of the most frequent and im- 
portant workings of the mind. Mind, like the 
body, may move from one point to another — drift 
from one subject to another. Different topics 



INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 



37 



affect it as do broken clouds the appearance of a 
landscape when drifting over it. It may wholly 
lose old interests as new ones come in and take 
their place. It may forget, and it may learn. It 
is said that Humboldt was an Atheist, and some 
of Darwin's admirers place him in the same cate- 
gory. But, even if these things were so, there is 
nothing in the facts of the case which can not be 
accounted for without discredit to religion. 

§4. How Baron von Humboldt may have drifted 
into Atheism. 

Humboldt became ingulfed in the "Cosmos" 
he studied so long and well. He not only left the 
Fatherland, his family, his friends, political ambi- 
tion, all the associations of his home and early life, 
but he left religion, and mentally as well as bodily 
went away from them, and made brothers, sisters, 
and friends of the rocks, the rivers, the mountains, 
the volcanoes, the trees, the flowers, and the wild 
beasts of the plains and dens of earth. Every new 
aspect of the cosmos, which startled his vision, be- 
came, for the time being, the all-absorbing topic. 
Finally the Atheistic "moods" began to come on, 
with, perhaps, long intervals between them. At 
first he gave them but little attention, and their 
frequency increased. More and more he became 
absorbed in the cosmos, and eventually that be- 
came the universe to him. The physical laws, 
with w^hich he was familiar, explained the visible 
phenomena of heaven and earth, and he allowed 



38 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



of no interference with them. The infinite ''cos- 
mos," together with infinite time and space, seemed 
to exclude the possibility of the existence of any 
other infinite; and at least his cosmos was com- 
plete without a God, and he had no other use for 
such a Being. All these infinities so fully monop- 
olized the mind of the great philosopher that, at 
last, he yielded to the Atheistic "mood," and it 
became permanent. Humboldt affords a fine il- 
lustration of the truth of Paul's aphorism: "The 
world by wisdom knew not God." Had God been 
a part of the cosmos, he would have been found 
and fully recognized; but as he was its Creator, 
and no part of the thing created, the investigation 
did not extend to him. 

§5. The Value of Humboldt's Experience as a 
Basis of Infidelity for Others. 

But what does the unguarded and unfortunate 
experience of Humboldt amount to for other people, 
as a foundation for Atheism? Can any one see 
in it an affirmative, eternal principle, on which to 
build a system of unbelief? Father Secchi, a de- 
vout Catholic priest, is quite as much of a nat- 
uralist as Humboldt was, without his Atheism. 
The fact is, no man can abandon himself to the 
study of the constitution of matter, or to meta- 
physics, or to the vastness of the universe, and for 
any great length of time feel the inspiration of his 
theme, without either forgetting, for the time 
being, or drifting away from all other things, 



[INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 



39 



religion included. We can afford to forget, for we 
can recall; but it is very bad to drift. An estab- 
lished truth should ever remain in the mind as a 
permanent possession, and then, whether we think 
of it much or little, its presence will tend to mod- 
ify and give symmetry to all additional acquisi- 
tions. If, in passing from one field of thought to 
another, we forget or drift away from what we 
leave behind, our knowledge will always be one- 
sided, composed of half-truths, and lack complete- 
ness. In not fully considering these things, Hum- 
boldt was led to regard the cosmos as self-existent, 
self-sufficient, self-contained, and infinite. His 
Atheism was simply the presence in his mind of 
physical nature to excess, and the want of a sup- 
ply of the spiritual and the moral. A certain 
mental distortion found in Atheism its natural 
expression. 

Darwin, at an early age, became ingulfed in 
the study of another department of nature, and 
whether he became an Atheist or not, for some 
thirty years or more the religious side of his na- 
ture received but little attention. Probably ninety- 
nine men out of every hundred, the world over, in 
pursuing the same course, would have had a sim- 
ilar experience. 

§6. The Religious Capacity of Man susceptible 
of either Growth or Extinction. 
We think that the facts of history warrant the 
assumption that, in the mind of man a religious 



4o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



power, or a faculty for religion, exists, and like the 
other powers, it is subject to the law of growth 
and development. This being granted or assumed, 
then it follows that its interest can be promoted 
only as activity is given to it. Render it impossi- 
ble for a babe to move its arm, and that limb will 
cease to grow, and after awhile it will wither and 
die. Analogous to this phenomenon, the musical 
or mathematical faculty of the mind, if neglected 
and long left without employment, will gradually 
lose its strength, and finally, perhaps entirely, dis- 
appear. That an old man or woman is not an 
accomplished musician, is no proof that in child- 
hood each did not possess that faculty to an emi- 
nent degree. Nothing may have been wanting 
but action, growth, and development. The want 
of light — visual inaction as a consequence — has 
given us the eyeless fish which abound in the dark 
waters of the caves of the earth. 

Here we have found a principle which, if duly 
considered, is sufficient to account for all the Athe- 
ism that is or ever was prevalent among literary 
men. Such persons become ardently engaged in 
some pursuit of business, politics, or literature — 
pursuits that may not be wholly free from moral 
taint — and the religious faculty is allowed to re- 
main for half a life-time or more in a state of in- 
activity. Because God is not found as an element 
in chemistry, geology, astronomy, anatomy, or a 
factor in mathematics or psychology, the parties 
who make any one of these branches of study a 



INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 



4i 



specialty, do not know how to look for him any- 
where. On the supposition that it were possible 
for fishes to worship the sun, the eyeless class 
found in the dark waters of caves would be the 
Atheists of this part of creation ; and, as a lack of 
physical activity of the fishes' eyes in the light has 
left them without sight, so the lack of spiritual 
activity has, in the main, given to the world its 
Atheists. The world by reasoning can not know 
God, and its helplessness arises from the fact that 
God is not an element or a factor in any of the 
natural sciences. As light can be apprehended 
only by the eye, and hearing by the ear, and music 
where there is a special faculty — such as some pos- 
sess only to a small degree — so God can be known 
only where there is a spiritual power to appre- 
hend him. 

§ 7. The Absence of Affirmative Principles 
at the Base of Infidelity fatal to its 
Claims. 

We look in vain in the writings of either Dar- 
win or Humboldt for facts or principles which, by 
excluding the possibility of the existence of a 
Deity, solve the problems of the universe indepen- 
dent of him. In the main, along all lines of 
thought, where the Christian uses the title Creator 
they substitute the word Nature, Force, or Mys- 
tery. They find it difficult to endure the blank, 
or vacuum, which is occasioned by the absence of 
the Infinite One, and they try to fill it as best 

4 



4 2 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



they can. The Christian is in no way afraid of 
nature, nor of any proper deductions which can 
be made from it. In fact, the Atheist has not been 
able to meet the argument of the Theist, espe- 
cially the design argument, and perhaps the re- 
quest has in us an appearance of unkindness 
when we ask him to elaborate in detail the fun- 
damental and positive elements of his unbelief. 
But we are compelled to do this, for his negatives 
as philosophy amount to nothing. 

The life one lives is quite as likely to give char- 
acter to his faith as the arguments he uses. Faith 
in God, as a branch in a vine, is not likely to experi- 
ence a luxurious growth if planted in the soil of 
iniquity. If in the study of nature — matter, 
plants, insects, reptiles, fishes, birds, beasts, and 
man — we try to substitute its forces and laws for 
a personal Creator and Governor, we can possibly 
grow into that conception of the universe. In 
these and various other ways we may become the 
victims of the Atheistic " mood." It was Tyndall's 
conviction, the result of years of personal obser- 
vation, that such moods were the results of men- 
tal depression, and that in the hours of clearness 
and vigor Atheism did not commend itself to his 
mind, and that in the presence of stronger and 
healthier thought it dissolved and disappeared. 

§ 8. Materialism necessarily leads to Atheism. 

The philosophy which teaches that this is 
wholly a material universe, governed by physical 



INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 



43 



and mechanical law, renders impossible a concep- 
tion of a moral government ; and under the influ- 
ence of such an empty arctic waste it is difficult 
for one to form even a proper conception of God, 
to say nothing of faith in him. But in the vernal 
atmosphere of right and wrong, of truth and holi- 
ness, of duty and responsibility — responsibility 
that penetrates all darkness, enters secret places, 
searches the heart, and brings to judgment every 
thought and feeling — it is not possible to resist 
the conviction that a God exists. 

§9. Origin of thf Pantheism of Spinoza. 

The misconstruction of an argument, in its 
remote effect, may lead to Atheism. Descartes 
recognized God as an element — force — in physical 
science; and this principle, in the hands of Spi- 
noza, resulted in the most compact, logical, and 
powerful system of pantheism that was ever writ- 
ten. God, conceived as force, or wisdom, or as 
the infinite or the absolute, gradually, under the 
law of logic, loses his personality, becomes unde- 
ified, and sinks down into the position of an ele- 
ment in metaphysics, or a factor in an argument, 
or as a part of the cosmos. The result is Atheism, 
whether it receive that name or not. 

God is a divine moral Personality, and such he 
must be conceived to be, to be believed in at all. 
He can look with complacency upon a worm, an 
insect, or a weakness, or an ignorance, or an 
error ; but between his awful holiness and guilt 



44 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



there can be nothing but infinite antagonism. 
What could be more natural and easy than for a 
being who is moral, spiritual, and elevated, like 
God, to believe in him? 

§ 10. The Agnosticism of Herbert Spencer. 

Herbert Spencer is one of a large class which 
would like to be known as a philosopher; and in 
regard to religion the title Agnostic suits them 
better than Atheist. Between his unknown Abso- 
lute and Herman Lotze's Infinite we can see but 
little room for choice. Spencer's universe as it is, 
is the Absolute partially evolved ; L,otze's universe 
as it is, is God in action at this moment. The 
Infinite with one philosopher, and the Absolute 
with the other, stand as the cause of all phe- 
nomena. Lotze is, however, devoutly Christian ; 
whereas Spencer regards Christianity as a sort of 
scaffolding, which will become worthless when 
his philosophy — especially his u data of ethics" — 
is understood. The man fancies that he has 
given to the world a new system of morals, 
whereas his most exalted sentiments are as old 
as the Abrahamic covenant. The highest and 
purest Christian ethics are expressed in these 
words: "Walk thou before me, and be thou per- 
fect." "In keeping the commandments there is 
great reward." " Fear God and keep his com- 
mandments, for this is the whole duty of many In 
teaching that well-doing contains in itself the 
highest reward, Mr. Spencer makes no new dis- 



INCIDENTAL CAUSES. 45 

covery ; but he utterly misconceives the ignorance 
and the waywardness of poor humanity when he 
supposes that his metaphysical ethics has any 
power to place man upon that elevated platform. 

§ 11. The HKivPS and Hindrances to Faith. 

We do not think the term Atheist should be 
bandied about in a flippant or careless manner; 
and though we have but little respect for Lotze's 
conceptions of God or his government, yet the 
character of the man entitles him personally to 
our highest respect. Divorcing his head from his 
heart, and letting his logic count for nothing, 
we hail him as a brother in the ranks of Chris- 
tianity. 

We are also willing that the name of Spencer 
should go down to posterity as a speculative phi- 
losopher of the highest rank, and as an Agnostic 
in religion. 

But for the thorough-going materialist we 
know of no fitting title but Atheist. Could he 
demonstrate that matter is eternal; that life has 
always been one of its properties; that it estab- 
lished the laws by which it is governed; that it 
can think and will and feel ; in short, could, he 
prove that matter possesses the attributes we as- 
cribe to God — moral, intellectual, and spiritual — 
he would make a decent showing for himself and 
his principles; but, as a consequence, he would 
cease to be a materialist and Atheist except in 
name. 



4 6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



CHAPTER II. 

R. G. INGERSOEE, THE ACCREDITED CHAMPION OF 
ATHEISM. 

BECAUSE that which may be known of God is manifest 
in them, for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible 
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, 
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal 
power and Godhead. So that they are without excuse. Be- 
cause that when they knew God they glorified him not as God, 
neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, 
and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools. — Paui,. 

§ i. The Infidelity of R. G. Ingersoee. 

The Field, Gladstone, and Ingersoll papers, 
which have been very extensively read by the 
general public in both this country and Great 
Britain, have given the last named gentleman the 
position of champion infidel of this age, and he 
stands forth conspicuously as the especial mouth- 
piece of modern Atheism. Any form of unbelief 
is acceptable to him, and, as a matter of policy, 
he is ever free to use that which is the best suited 
to an occasion. 

There is reason to doubt whether it is possible 
for an infidel to become so settled and fixed in un- 
belief that the voice of the humanity within him 
can be silenced ; but this man seems to have come as 



AN ACCREDITED CHAMPION. 



47 



near to that point as any of his contemporaries or 
predecessors ; yet his writings fail to show us that 
he stands on a firm foundation of fact, or phi- 
losophy, or self-evident truth. 

The papers above referred to are valuable, 
chiefly because they have revealed to us the men- 
tal and moral structure of this man, and uncov- 
ered the ground he occupies as the enemy of 
religion, natural and revealed. 

§2. The Peculiar Characteristics of the Man. 

Failing to find a valid cause for his skepticism 
in the arguments he has given us, we have been 
led, from many considerations, to look for it in 
the mental and moral structure of the man him- 
self. Any one holding to his distorted views of 
God and nature, and to what he fancies God would 
be if a God existed, could be nothing but an 
Atheist. His antagonism to religion is subjective, 
rooted in his peculiar cast of mind and mode of 
thinking ; and it does not arise from valid objec- 
tions to real Christianity, but to religion as a 
whole, in any possible form. The man has his 
peculiar conceptions of religion, and with these 
he is at war, as everybody is at war with disease, 
poverty, and crime. In this conflict his deliver- 
ances, when he can not be heard, are generally 
read, but seldom a second time. The man is an 
orator ; he is capable of saying pretty, sharp, 
bright things ; but these, as arguments, have but a 
short-lived day. After the music of his voice is 



4 8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



hushed in death, he will be forgotten before the 
sod has had time to form upon his grave. 

§ 3. A Series of Perversions of Scripture and 
of Nature lead to Atheism. 

Though he is an orator of high intellectual 
endowments, yet these are far surpassed by the 
vigor and intensity of his emotional nature. In 
his mental make-up a vivid imagination, a playful 
fancy, and the keenest sensibilities are most hap- 
pily combined, and these constitute the all-con- 
trolling forces of his being. His life practically 
is that of a thorough-going worldling of the social 
type ; not, however, of the highest order. He 
seems to have no conception of the spiritual and 
the holy, no idea of a sinless purity, and no sense 
of the sacred and divine ; yet where his coarse, 
irreligious proclivities are not offensive, he is said 
to be a companionable man. He is endowed 
with quick but not broad sympathies, and though 
not a profligate, his feelings are not of the most 
elevated character. His profession as a lawyer 
and a politician have brought him some rude 
shocks, which have done much to embitter and 
give shape to his life. His business and social 
associations have made him familiar with all forms 
of vice, and his highest ideal of virtue is the com- 
mon species of refined selfishness. Having no 
belief in God, nor in any supernatural being, it is 
not possible for him to conceive of a virtue which 



AN ACCREDITED CHAMPION. 



49 



is rooted anywhere but in depraved humanity. 
The idea of untainted moral purity floats not even 
in the region of his imagination. 

§4. The Miscellaneous Character of His Ac- 
quisitions. 

As a necessitarian, he perceives but the faint- 
est trace of any moral quality in human conduct, 
and both intellect and moral principle are always 
subservient to the feeling he may chance to have 
on any occasion. The low and the criminal which 
characterize human society he regards as neces- 
sities, and, as a consequence, they find no active 
antagonist in him. He can smile at a lie as well 
as at a joke, providing it is smart and answers its 
purpose. 

The comparative absence in his mind of the rea- 
soning faculty gives all the more room for the play 
of fancy and the gush of feeling. The most cogent 
chains of logic are as easily broken as a spider's 
web, when assailed by his emotions. Whatever 
he may say on any subject is more an expression 
of what he has felt in regard to it than what he 
has thought. Take from him the fire and the 
flash of wit arising from fancy and feeling, and 
the residue left of his mental furniture would be 
only dead coals and cold ashes. Consequently, as 
an intellectual guide in the realm of fact, princi- 
ple, and philosophy, he is no more trustworthy 
than the will-o'-the wisp. 

5 



5° 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§5. Personal Disqualifications to Apprkciatk 
Religion. 

He has read quite thoroughly the French infi- 
dels, especially Diderot and Voltaire. In a gen- 
eral way he is somewhat familiar with Spencer 
and Darwin ; but we find no proof in his writings 
that he has mastered any system of philosophy. 
The speculations of Descartes, Locke, Hume, 
Kant, Hamilton, Mansel, and Martineau, are quite 
outside of his patience, if not his faculties; and, 
at best, such material is too subtle and abstract to 
be suited to the gyrations of his playful fancy. 
The " Mistakes of Moses," and the far away shad- 
owy age in which he lived, are far better suited to 
his peculiar genius, as they afford a wider field for 
the loose range of his imagination. There he is 
brought into contact with the human element; 
feeling becomes enlisted in the strife, and the way 
is opened for invective. These give to him very 
much the character of a gladiator, only his weapons 
are his tongue and his pen. 

As a psychological element, he appears to have 
no conception of the will and its volitional power 
as the basis of responsibility, either in himself or 
in others. Will, feeling, and motive are indis- 
criminately confounded; or if, in any case, a rela- 
tion is perceptible between them, it is the mechan- 
ism of cause and effect. The one idea that he 
never forgets is, that man is an irresponsible 
creature of necessity. 



AN A CCR EDITED CHAMPION. 5 * 

The abstract world of truth, of right and 
wrong, of justice and judgment, considered as 
eternal and unchangeable principles, he never in 
any way recognizes. Here we painfully perceive 
that his mind lacks penetration, breadth, grip, 
and balance. For this reason, as religion, natural 
and revealed, is composed, especially its basal el- 
ements, of principles which are abstract, spiritual, 
and eternal, it eludes his grasp. The pure and 
high realm it occupies seems to lie beyond the 
reach of the perverted faculties of this skeptic. 
Were he familiar with the exercise of reasoning 
on fundamental principles, whether of science, 
philosophy, political economy, or anything else, 
such experience would enable him to see more 
clearly, and hold in hand more steadily, the ab- 
stract truths of religion. 

§ 6. Personal Characteristics of the Skeptic. 

It is said this man is indebted for his popu- 
larity, such as it is, to his amiability and kindness 
of spirit, especially in his family. It is well that 
he has not the coarse, gross selfishness of Paine; 
for, even without his bad habits, so foul are his 
scoffs and blasphemies, indulged in to catch the 
applause of the basest sort of society, that a man 
of religious sensibilities would recoil from speak- 
ing to him on the street. Such feelings in regard 
to any subject constitute an utter disqualification 
for forming a correct judgment in regard to it. 
What lawyer would try a man for his life before 



52 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



a judge and jury who were known to be bitter 
enemies ? Religion never appears as it is if seen 
through a hazy atmosphere of spite and ill-will. 

But in his harshest utterances against religion, 
though often bitter and sarcastic in the extreme, 
he is never malignant against its friends. He 
seems to care nothing for religion in any way ex- 
cept to keep it as far as possible from himself. 
In reading his rollicking sentences, one often feels 
that the man has no convictions ; that he is a 
trifler, a mountebank, acting a part, fulfilling an 
engagement, earning his salary, and not at all sin- 
cere. But to make a point against religion, or 
indulge in his exuberant wit, or excite in others 
levity and scorn, anything is lawful which will 
accomplish his purpose. A serious man, one who 
cared for consequences, in treating a subject of 
such awful moment, would endeavor to keep the 
horizon of his intellect unclouded, and then walk 
in its light; but this skeptic regards his feelings, 
mostly of vituperation if at their extreme height, 
as the oracle whose deliverances should be ac- 
cepted as the truth on the subject of religion. 
This excessive indulgence of emotion has made 
him a narrow, one-sided man ; and in the field of 
pure thought and logic he amounts to nothing. 

§7. The Intellectual a Secondary Power in 
the Man. 

An original character is always interesting. 
It has something of the fascinations of a new 



AN ACCREDITED CHAMPION. 



53 



fashion. We see beautifully combined in him, es- 
pecially in his quiet, passive moments, the rugged 
strength of a man, the tenderness of a woman, 
and the simplicity of a child ; but suggest to him 
the idea of God, the obligations of religion, or the 
retributions of eternity, and at once his lack of 
mental balance allows him to be carried in any 
direction by his prancing fancy or the flood-like 
rush of his feelings. The execution of the her- 
etic Servetus, with the acquiescence of Calvin, 
has for years afforded an inexhaustible theme for 
his rhetoric, and the indulgence of his towering, 
wrathful emotions. It has not, however, occurred 
to him that the murder was committed in viola- 
tion of both the letter and spirit of religion as 
taught by Christ and his apostles. The ecclesi- 
astical and civil tyranny which persecutes for con- 
science' sake is not religion, nor any part of it. 
In the light of this unfortunate transaction, we 
may see the wide difference between the mental 
structure of the great Genevan theologian and 
our infidel philosopher. The one was all intel- 
lect, and he knew of no other way to act except 
to follow argument and conscience. It mattered 
not where his remorseless logic led him, his 
sense of duty or loyalty to truth made it neces- 
sary for him to obey. He consented to the death 
of Servetus because the logical conclusion of his 
argument was that a heretic should die. 

Such allegiance to reason, it matters not what 
is proved, Ingersoll knows nothing about. He is 



54 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



utterly oblivious to its binding force, and he can 
see nothing in the death of Servetus but fiendish 
cruelty on the part of the really generous but 
mistaken Calvin. 

In the fields of mathematics, chemistry, phys- 
ics, and mechanics, he could never have been a 
success. Facts, figures, angles, triangles, squares, 
cubes, logarithms, atoms, molecules, levers, pul- 
leys, and axles, could never have been made by 
any possible apotheosis to take on such forms as 
his feelings and fancy might suggest. At every 
turn he would find such material unmanageable, 
and an embarrassment to the flights of his pecul- 
iar genius. 

But such is the mental structure, such the 
peculiar fitness of the man who has undertaken 
to instruct cardinals, bishops, and philosophers in 
regard to the non-existence of God and the des- 
tiny of man. The man, in person, should be kept 
before us at every separate step in the argument, 
as it is necessary to distinguish between conclu- 
sions which are purely logical deductions from 
well-established premises, and conclusions which 
are nothing more than the expression of a feeling 
of sympathy or indignation on account of some- 
thing that somebody has done. We can imagine 
the convulsions of horror and spasms of wrath he 
would experience at being reminded of the Ro- 
man general who ordered the execution of his son 
for a brave and useful act — slaying, in single com- 
bat, a champion on the other side — because it was 



AN ACCREDITED CHAMPION. 



55 



done without orders. He would not stop a mo- 
ment to reflect upon the importance of military 
discipline, the safety of the army, and the welfare 
of the empire — present and future — but his whole 
soul would go out with flash and fury against the 
father, and at the same time melt in pity for the 
son. We see the amiableness of the man, but we 
would not select him to be a pillar in the State 
or a leader in moral principle. 

§8. He can form no Idea of Faith as a Re- 
ligious Element. 

Why faith should be the red flag to our skeptic 
we have found it difficult to explain ; but such it 
is, and he never fails to curve his neck at sight 
of it. To make faith clear, and give it emphasis 
as a basic element in the religious life, many ex- 
pedients have been providentially adopted, and 
chief among these was the exhibition and trial of 
the faith of Abraham in the offering of Isaac, and 
of the Syro-Phcenician woman. In utter and as- 
tonishing obliviousness of the spiritual part of the 
transaction, he can see nothing in it but a myth 
or a heathenish practice. He looks upon it from 
the stand-point he occupies, and judges of it as if 
he had, without any object, performed it. His all- 
controlling feelings will not allow him to take any 
other than a subjective view of that event. Of 
course the lesson conveyed he wholly misses. In 
the Christian system, faith in God, which is also 
God in faith, develops spirituality, and it is 



56 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



legarded as its most fundamental element. Faith 
is more to the Christian life than the mainspring 
is to the watch or the heart to the body, for it is 
through its transforming power that the believer 
is " made meet for the inheritance of the saints 
in light" 

Let us look, for a few moments, at the moral 
and spiritual elements which give to the virtual 
sacrifice of Isaac all its significance, but which the 
skeptic is not able to recognize in any way. The 
faith and consequent obedience of Abraham in this 
transaction stand forth in the moral heavens as 
stars of the first magnitude, and they can not but 
be seen except when there is absolute blindness. 
He had accepted the promise that he, through his 
son Isaac, was to be the father of a great nation ; 
and during all the fiery ordeal through which he 
was called to pass, he staggered not through unbe- 
lief, and in standing firm in the faith, glorified 
God. Nowhere else in the Bible, nor out of it, 
can be found so clear and impressive a presenta- 
tion of faith as the fundamental element of relig- 
ion, as has thus, in the person of Abraham, been 
done, and kept for thousands of years before the 
world for its instruction. 

We are further taught that, valuable as life in 
this world is, it is not the chief good. Death is 
not the extinction of being. How many men of 
honor, rather than shrink from duty or tarnish 
their good name, have laid down their life ! In the 
conduct of Abraham we simply see that religion 



AN ACCREDITED CHAMPION. 57 



can elevate the soul to this high plane, and hold it 
there, not as a captive slave, but as a moral and 
immortal victor. Abraham stood erect in the high 
region of the intellectual and the spiritual, when 
God was recognized and obeyed; the skeptic is 
found on the other side of the circle, and his vision 
is bounded by the social plane of the present life. 
The realm of faith and obedience, illuminated by 
the divine presence, and for ages known to all be- 
lievers as "Mount Moriah," is a true Beulah-land, 
which infidelity can never understand. 

Isaac, dead or alive, was a small matter com- 
pared to the moral and spiritual elements which, 
through his proposed sacrifice, shone out upon 
mankind. Abraham saw in it the " day " of Christ 
and the resurrection of the dead. As a beacon- 
light it has dispersed the darkness from the minds 
of millions. The entire transaction should be 
judged in the light of these facts and principles ; 
and thus seen, its true character will be under- 
stood, and nothing more exalted and beautiful can 
be found in the Bible. 

We call special attention to this subject here, 
because it will demonstrate to the satisfaction of 
the reader that Colonel Ingersoll does not bring 
to the study of religion the capacity — the percep- 
tion, the candor, the calmness, and the judgment — 
necessary to understand it. There is scarcely any 
event recorded in the Old Testament that he rep- 
robates and ridicules more violently than this, and 
at no time or place does he utter a word which 



58 



ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 



indicates that he knows anything of its true mean- 
ing. The judgment and feelings which he brings 
to the discussion of this topic, abide with him in 
all he' has to say on the question of religion, and 
are equally worthy of respect, and no more. It is 
not necessary, therefore, in accounting for his war- 
fare upon religion, to extend the discussion beyond 
the man himself. 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



59 



CHAPTER III. 

INSUFFICIENCY OF THE FACTS PRODUCED IN SUP- 
PORT OF INFIDELITY. 

SEi/F is the medium least refined of all, 
Through which opinion's searching beams can fall, 
And passing then, the clearest, steadiest ray 
Will tinge the light and turn the beam away. 

— Moore. 

§i. Invective as a Substitute for Argument. 

As the accredited champion of Atheism, Inger- 
soll should long since have furnished the world 
with a carefully prepared philosophic basis on 
which the system rests. He should not seek to 
demolish the cottage, which shelters us, and has 
sheltered millions and millions before we were 
born, without otherwise providing for our accom- 
modation. But this is not what has been done. 
He proposes to send us adrift, and, without a 
home or guide, to wander where we may. 

Christianity has been denounced, derided, and 
scoffed at ad libitum, and the time is come when 
infidelity should do some positive work for itself. 
If it has found a basis in affirmative, fundamental 
truth on which it can rest, that basis should be 
brought forward. Whatever of truth it contains, 
that truth can be wrought into philosophic form. 
It can, perhaps, be spun into different threads, 



6o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



or conducted along different though not cross- 
ing lines. The wide field of physical science 
invites attention ; perhaps metaphysics has contri- 
butions it can make ; possibly moral philosophy, 
and even theology, can be pressed into service. 
A field as wide as the universe is thus open before 
the Atheist ; and if the philosophy of his doctrine 
affords footing for his unbelief, we have the right 
to know what it is. If either of the above indi- 
cated lines of thought leads to Atheism, they all do, 
and a conclusion which is the result of their com- 
bined strength would be overwhelmingly strong. 

But we have nothing of the kind. The most 
notorious infidels of both ancient and modern 
times have been far more given to ridicule, invec- 
tive, and blasphemy than sober argument. Then, 
in the absence of a system of philosophic infi- 
delity, we must be content to examine such 
material as we have. 

§2. The Skeptic's Conceptions of the World 
we live in. 

This depends upon his ability, education, and 
habits of thought. Had our doughty champion 
received a thorough scholastic education, then 
devoted some years to the study of history and 
philosophy, he would have been a wiser and 
broader man than he is, and far better equipped 
to play the role of American champion advocate 
of Atheism. Intellect would have been more in 
the ascendant, the mind would have been more 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



61 



familiar with different realms of thought and their 
mutually modifying influence, and reason would 
have been more amenable to the laws of logic. 
The idea of vastness, with its heights and depths, 
length and breadth, littleness and greatness, sim- 
plicity and complexity, the known and the unknown, 
would ever, as ballast, be present to his mind. 
As the case stands, the world he lives in — all the 
world he pretends to know anything about — is 
existing, concrete humanity. Men, women, chil- 
dren, society, government, religion, the family, 
human joys and sorrows, and whatever touches 
our race in this life, he claims, come very near to 
him. As man has no future beyond this world, 
the present necessarily is made to absorb all 
human interests. 

Were it a fact, visible to the public, that this 
man is able to sympathize so deeply with the 
hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, of his 
fellow-beings ; feeding the hungry, clothing the 
naked, uplifting the poor, and securing to the 
youth of the land a pure literature, — we should 
freely recognize his amiable and generous nature ; 
and if an existence in this world were all of life, 
nothing more could be desired. Perhaps this part 
of his history has not yet been written. 

In vain we look for any recognition of gov- 
ernment or for the laws of character as causes of 
human weal or woe ; but the universe he gives us 
is simply a soft, sympathetic feeling for present 
interests. We are never taken into the field of 



6 2 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



moral conflict, where stalwart, virtuous characters, 
actuated by an intelligent, unyielding conscience, 
are battling for the right. A world of duty, respon- 
sibility, and self-denial he knows nothing of. 

§3. Indulgence the Skeptic's only Conception 
of Government. 

He is a man of intense subjectiveness, and out 
of himself, as out of an immense personality, there 
arises the only world which he recognizes as exter- 
nal to himself. Like the glow-worm, he moves in 
the light of his own impulses, and he knows no other 
guide. Of truth and reality, of right and wrong, of 
purity and sin, considered as abstract and eternal 
principles, the purity being the source of happiness, 
and the sin the cause of misery, he has no con- 
ception. In the presence of this vast ideal world 
of principles and laws — physical, intellectual, vital, 
and spiritual — his mind is a blank, and all that 
he can conceive of man is embraced in the con- 
crete now. His reflections upon human interests 
receive such an Atheistic coloring from his own 
feelings in regard to current temporal affairs, that 
God and eternity are excluded. Such are the 
strength of his personality and the ardor of his 
sympathies, that the only element of government 
he can recognize is unlimited indulgence. His 
family government he would use as the model for 
the government of the world. Do as you please, 
and let the consequences take care of themselves. 
The idea of discipline, restraint, and self-denial 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



63 



are foreign to his notions of life. He even con- 
fesses that he can form no conception of an infi- 
nite being as the moral governor of the world ; 
and we think his confession sincere. He has 
given to his mind such a cast as excludes from it 
the fundamental principles of all forms of religion. 
There is a species of clam which can expel the 
air ; then by closing its lids or valves, as a phi- 
losopher, create within a vacuum ; then rise, and 
float wherever the current or waves may carry it. 
Like the mollusk, the infidel seems to be capable 
of expelling the light from within his mind, and 
leaving a dark vacuum there ; for in this condition 
we find him. His infidelity is thus fully ac- 
counted for, and it is no discredit to the claims 
of Christianity. The man is not reasonable who 
closes his eyes, and then complains of the sun ; 
or denies that there is a sun, because he can not 
see. To know Ingersoll's cast of mind, especially 
to see the moral desert that is there, is to under- 
stand that the root cause of his antagonism to 
religion is the fact that he recognizes no moral 
governor. What vitriol is to his flesh, the thought 
of accountability is to his soul. 

§4. The Ideal God Whose Existence the In- 
fidel could Admit. 

At times he evidently regrets that there is not 
such a God as, in fancy, he would be able to cre- 
ate. If such a being existed, there would be no 
floods or drouths, no volcanoes or earthquakes, no 



6 4 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



cyclones or dead calms, no raging flames, no birth- 
throes, no deaths, no crimes, no miseries, but reins 
would be given to unrestrained indulgence, and 
this would be attended by uninterrupted hap- 
piness. 

But such is not this world; hence it can have 
no moral governor, of infinite wisdom, power, and 
goodness. At no point along his dreamy line of 
thought does the Bible render him any assistance ; 
for, in attaching suffering to sin, it leaves him, 
with nature, in helpless, hopeless Atheism. Na- 
ture, in its administration of justice, quite as deeply 
outrages his feelings, in regard to what is wise 
and right, as the records of the Old Testament. 
He would regard as an " infinite fiend" the being 
who could be the author of either form of admin- 
istration. His principles of government compel 
him to recognize in himself excellencies which are 
not to be found in any God of any religion — 
heathen, Jewish, or Christian. Next to himself, 
around the myth Buddha more virtues cluster than 
attach to any other name in history. 

And yet this man's conceptions of virtue, truth, 
and government, are not altogether the inspiration 
of mere vanity or conceit, but rather they spring 
from his intense personality — the tap-root of his 
being. He is in all things so thoroughly subject- 
ive that, unconsciously, he makes himself the 
standard of all excellency and perfection, human 
and divine. In the absence of all consciousness 
of abstract principles, he is unable to see beyond 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



65 



the horizon of his own feelings and experience. 
He is structurally, or by education, one thing, and 
religion is another. 

§5. The Vain Struggles of the Infidel to sat- 
isfy Himself. 

A one-sided development of humanity is a dis- 
tortion of man that brings restlessness and pain. 
The full-orbed man, with properly adjusted en- 
vironments, is at rest. Could we believe that the 
man ever lived who, because of his constitutional 
make-up, was free from religious responsibility, 
Colonel Ingersoll would not be placed in that cat- 
egory. The man does not live who gives clearer 
proof that, in common with the rest of his race, 
he possesses the religious faculty, than this man. 
He has given his life, largely, to the most per- 
plexing studies of this subject. Had not the 
religious principle been deeply rooted in his nature, 
he could never have taken any interest in an out- 
side religious world. Long continued wrangling 
over a subject may evince as deep an interest as 
the warmest devotion. It is not possible for us to 
care for that which is, in no way, a part of our- 
selves, as its relations are wholly foreign to us. 
The wife who has come intensely to hate her hus- 
band, affords proof thereby that once she loved 
him. If in separation there is indifference, then 
there was never anything more. Woman's love 
may not die, but it can make her a tigress. 

As one studies the writings of Ingersoll, and 

6 



66 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



notes carefully what is written between the lines, 
it is easy to perceive that he has not always been 
true to truth as it has been made known to him; 
and he is not now able to conceal the fact that he 
is ill at ease in the presence of the mystery of life, 
the horrors of death, and the unsolved problems 
of another world. Such emergencies require spe- 
cial equipments, and these infidelity can not fur- 
nish. The qualifications for making this journey 
must be personal ; for we must go alone, and take 
nothing with us but ourselves. Only in a fully 
developed Christian manhood, with the spiritual 
largely in the ascendant, can we find the victori- 
ous counterpart of death and eternity. The infi- 
*del can not but feel the blight his soul suffers in 
this respect. He may have seasons of stupor, but 
not of rest. He wrangles and writes and lectures 
for the same reason that the boy whistles in pass- 
ing a grave-yard. Cut loose from his moorings, 
and afloat in the dark, stormy night, he has con- 
stant fears of destruction. 

§ 6. Nature and Revelation objected to on the 
Same Grounds. 

The world presents the same aspect of sin and 
suffering to the Christian and infidel, and in regard 
to the facts there is no dispute. The Scripture 
representation is as follows: "There is none right- 
eous, no, not one;" and "The whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth together in pain until 
now." The facts are clear enough, but what we 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



67 



want is the proper interpretation of them. The 
infidel, led by his perverted judgment and soured 
feelings, ascribes the wrongs and sorrows of earth 
to the agency of God, if a God exist. Hence, the 
Bible is discredited, and, for the same reason, the 
existence of God is denied. Thus religion, natural 
and revealed, is swept away, and man is left with- 
out God and without hope. 

This is a point of the very first importance, 
and it will receive much attention in the course 
of this discussion. We wish here simply to fix 
attention upon the fact that Ingersoll is quite as 
much the antagonist of the religion of nature as 
of revelation, and uses the same arguments against 
both. "Infinite fiend" is the title he would apply 
to the Being who could be the author of either. 

He seems to be utterly incapable of grasping 
the proposition, when clearly presented to him, 
that, in the spirit of benevolence, a perfect world 
could be created and governed by laws of absolute 
perfection ; a voluntary conformity to which would 
result in the greatest good, as it would preserve 
the unity and harmony of the whole ; and antag- 
onism, the greatest evil, because of the strife, dis- 
order, and confusion it would produce. To ordi- 
nary minds — in fact, to the multitudes of all ages — 
such conception of the universe has been easy 
enough, and it has been wrought into the frame- 
work of government and society in all civilized 
countries. A failure to understand the idea of 
government by law, in all its vast and mighty 



68 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



sweep, necessarily leaves the way open for any one 
to drift into infidelity. 

§ 7. The Relation God sustains to the Uni- 
verse. 

The mind which can clearly comprehend God 
as Creator on the one hand, and the universe on 
the other, might be able to define the relation 
they sustain to each other — no lesser mind can do 
it. Any attempt of that kind, however, which in- 
volves an absurdity, a contradiction, or any idea 
derogatory to God, we are not required to accept. 
Hence, the conception, whether entertained by 
Christian or infidel, that God's relation to the uni- 
verse is such that he must necessarily be the sole, 
the arbitrary, and direct cause of whatever is, we 
promptly reject. We reprobate the idea that he 
is the only active force in the universe — that all 
else is passive. 

But our champion infidel holds if a God exist, 
that every being and everything alike, from mo- 
ment to moment, must bear the fresh stamp of his 
power, and that whatever is — crime of all kinds, 
as fully as virtue — must be regarded as expressions 
of his will and good pleasure. He holds that the 
world is composed of a mixture of good and bad, 
of joy and woe, because there is no God ; whereas, 
if such a being existed, and his wisdom, power, 
and goodness were infinite, virtue and unceasing 
felicity must necessarily be the result. Physical 
nature and the animal creation, as well as man, 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



69 



would always, in every particular, serve as an 
expression of his wisdom and beneficence. The 
universe, as a whole, is conceived to be made up 
of one cause and manifold effects; and as the 
purpose of the cause is seen in the effects, God is 
made the author of the crimes and miseries of the 
world. Further on, this ground of the infidel will 
be plowed as if it were a field. 

The infidel's idea of the moral element in 
government may be seen in the language he uses 
in regard to the atonement. He says: "It is 
based on the idea that right and wrong are ex- 
pressions of an arbitrary will, and 'not words ap- 
plied to and descriptive of acts in the light of 
conseqences." 

We y believing that an infinite God exists, hold 
that the words "right and wrong" not only em- 
brace such moral principles, but that they also 
express the divine will. Right and the best of 
consequences, in the long run, go hand in hand, 
and it is never safe to do wrong. Should the 
abstract principles of right and wrong be abol- 
ished, and selfish human conceptions of "conse- 
quences" be substituted, the dry rot, if not some- 
thing worse, would come upon society. The de- 
mand is here made by infidelity that the moral 

- quality of right and wrong be abolished, and that 
the idea of the consequences of an act be sub- 
stituted ; then, when an enterprise of any kind 
is presented for our consideration, we should simply 

- inquire: "Will this pay? will it produce pleasure 



7o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



or gratification?" and if so, it should be performed. 
Here we get but the key-note of the effort which is 
to be made to eliminate the moral element from 
the universe. More anon. 

But in passing, bear in mind it is because the 
Bible and nature teach that the moral world is 
based upon abstract, unchangeable, and eternal 
laws of "right and wrong," recognized as such by 
infinite wisdom, and because only by the main- 
tenance of these laws can good "consequences" 
be produced to the obedient, that the world is not 
what it should be in the judgment of this skeptic. 

We are not now engaged with Colonel Inger- 
soll in argument, but taking a survey of the 
ground he stands on, and calls his own in his 
contest with religion. If the stakes and lines we 
have pointed out are well observed, they will 
greatly aid us at every step in judging of the 
strength of his position. 

§ 8. Superficial Conceptions of Nature. 

In the single fact of this world's misery Ingersoll 
has endeavored, as will appear, to ingulf the uni- 
verse and annihilate God. Nowhere, that we have 
seen, has he even suggested that it was desirable 
to harmonize the world's evil with the idea of the 
existence of a moral Governor. He has so thor- 
oughly occupied himself with earth's wrongs, that 
he takes them to be the whole. He is like the 
Hindu who, in coming down from the mountains, 
should come across in the jungles of Bengal the 



FACTS INSUFFICIENT. 



71 



mangled leg of an elephant, and take it to be 
the whole of some unfortunate beast. How sur- 
prised would this child of the Himalayas be to 
see an hour later the live animal, and learn that 
the object of. his pity was only the leg of a beast 
the lions had torn to pieces. When the skeptic 
has spent some years in trying to grasp the uni- 
verse as a whole, especially the idea of its gov- 
ernment by law, he may be able to see that a 
God can exist, and not be the author of sin and 
misery. 



72 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS CONSIDERED. 

Some men seem to think the only character of the Author 
of nature to be that of simple absolute benevolence. This, 
considered as a principle of action and infinite in degree, is a 
disposition to produce the greatest possible happiness, with- 
out regard to person's behavior, otherwise than as such regard 
would produce higher degrees of it. — Bishop BuTXER. 

§ i. The Personal Relation of the Infidel to 
Religion. 

We are anxious to acquaint ourselves with the 
arguments which have led any man to embrace 
the teachings of Atheism, and to this end we 
have labored to get at the mental and moral 
make-up of skeptics — to see things as they see 
them, and feel the full force of all the considera- 
tions which have carried their minds to conclu- 
sions so dark and dreadful. At the same time 
we have been on the watch for some affirmative 
principle, or self-evident basal element, which so 
underlies the constitution of nature as to exclude 
the possibility of the existence of a Creator and 
Governor. 

More frequently, however, than anything else, 
we have been led directly to the skeptic himself, 
and find that there was something in his history, 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 73 



or character, or experience, which, as a mere inci- 
dent, has brought about this result. The earth- 
quake at Ivisbon made an Atheist of Voltaire. In 
all such cases the doctrine has no legitimate foun- 
dation of its own, and it may be regarded as a 
mere whim born of an unfortunate event or a 
distempered mind. After a position has been p 
taken and announced, arguments will concrete 
about it ad infinitum, and every one is an after- 
thought, intended to buttress a position that it is 
not pleasant to abandon nor easy to hold. 

A gladiator can in no sense be considered as 
an investigator. He regards the case as tried, and 
he is in the field to kill. Is not this exactly the 
position Colonel Ingersoll holds in this contro- 
versy? Is it not clear that he looks upon relig- 
ion, natural and revealed, very much as an ancient 
Mohawk chief might look upon the costumes of a 
city belle or of a fashionably dressed young man? 
There, in his moccasins, he strides forth, six feet 
in height. His deer-skin leggins are elaborately 
fringed with the skins of rattle-snakes ; his breech- 
cloth and overshirt are decorated with porcupine 
spines, in the highest style of savage art ; his face 
and forehead disfigured by paints, suggests more 
than the fierceness of the tiger ; and his head is 
made hideous by a gear of buffalo-horns, bear's- 
teeth, eagle's-claws, and bird's-feathers. At his 
back is swung a quiver of arrows ; in his left hand 
he carries a bow; from his belt hang his toma- 
hawk and scalping-knife ; and animated with 

7 



74 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



mingled pride and vengeance, he is eager, and 
hastens to meet his foe. 

Any one will admit that in appearance the 
savage is picturesque in the extreme. According 
to his own taste his costume is a model of perfec- 
tion. But where is the tailor, or the dressmaker, 
or the young lady or gentleman, who would wish 
to submit the question of taste in dress to the 
arbitration of such a judge? Certainly he could 
try the case only according to his own laws of 
fitness, convenience, and beauty ; for he would 
know of no other standard of judgment. It 
might be expected that if the solemn savage 
deigned to laugh, or sneer, or scoff, or indulge 
in sarcasm, that he would treat the costumes of 
Christian civilization as the colonel treats Chris- 
tianity itself. And is it not possible that in the 
one case, as in the other, the cause of the con- 
tempt would be in the character, feelings, and 
habits of the man, and not in the thing 
despised ? 

After all, it is the argument, not the man, 
which should have weight in a discussion. But 
in a case like this, assertions should count for 
nothing. We should stand unmoved by the hot 
temper and hard blows of the gladiator; extrav- 
agant expressions should be properly discounted; 
the subjective character of all that is said, if duly 
considered, will count for nothing ; judgments 
should not be tainted by a mixture of feeling ; and 
this sloughing-off work should go on till we are 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 75 



sure that in the residue we have nothing but fact 
and logic left. 

It is quite likely that our doughty skeptic will 
feel highly complimented by the suggestion that, 
in his views and feelings, he is as far from all that 
is essential in Christianity as the ancient savage 
could be from the refinements of civilized life. 
The man himself, far more than argument or phi- 
losophy, is arrayed against religion. Nowhere in 
his writings have we been able to find an affirma- 
tive abstract principle. 

§2. The Value of Subjective Arguments 
against reeigion. 

If a man's nature, spiritual, intellectual, moral, 
and emotional, was fully and harmoniously devel- 
oped, and Christianity were true, the one would be 
but the counterpart of the other; but our hypothet- 
ical man was never known to exist. On the other 
hand, all men give evidence of ignorance, of hav- 
ing perverted judgments in some things, of pas- 
sion and prejudice. In most cases the unfolding 
of human nature, as seen in history, gives us any- 
thing but a pure and spiritual man. The shades 
of character are innumerable, and many are very 
low down and base. We might, then, expect that 
arguments that were subjective — that is, were 
rooted in any man's peculiar mental and moral 
make-up — would, more or less, lead to infidelity. 
Sweet waters can not come from a bitter fount- 
ain. Arguments drawn from the proclivities of 



7 6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



some mental and moral developments could be 
nothing but the darkest Atheism. 

The considerations which influence such minds 
are personal, and may be, as they ought to be, 
powerless elsewhere. They have no necessary 
connection with religion, either for or against it, 
except as proofs of its doctrine of depravity. 
Were the man in nature identical with religion, 
they would then have a mutual bearing upon 
each other ; but the foul effervescence of a human 
soul is one thing and the Rock of Ages is another. 
The skeptic may make along his pathway a great 
noise; he may occasionally even entrance us with 
the charms of his rhetoric; but if we bear in 
mind that there is nothing of it except that a 
very gifted man is in a state of irruptive activity, 
a mere overflow of self, what is said will receive 
only the stamp of its true value, and he will 
cease to be a power to blight the youth of the 
country. 

§3. Arguments which might be legitimately 
urged by Infidels are Neglected. 

Religion, proper, is simply the obedience of 
love to God and the service of love to man. The- 
ology is an expression, in logical and systematic 
form, of the fundamental elements of religion. It 
is seldom that an attack has ever been made 
directly upon religion itself; but theology, more or 
less a human structure, has been and can be 
assailed. Church organizations, as they exist to- 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 77 



day, are, especially in a multitude of their details, 
human institutions, and all are open, more or less, 
to attack. But systems of theology may be badly 
shattered, and ecclesiastical structures criticised 
with success, and religion per se remain untouched. 
But there are questions which we might wish 
could be brought out into a clearer light and set- 
tled. Is our knowledge of the existence of God 
dependent upon revelation? Is the idea of God 
in the soul of man anything more than a meta- 
physical speculation? Can we approach any 
nearer to the Divine Personality than Spinoza's 
" Substance," Hartman's " Unconscious Will," 
Spencer's "Absolute," Lotze's "Infinite," Hamil- 
ton's "Unconditioned," and Schopenhauer's "Uni- 
versal Will?" Or, let him unravel nature, and 
show that all that has ever occurred is the result 
of chance — that nowhere does nature give proof 
of wisdom, design, or benevolence. Here is room 
for argument; but it is a field our doughty skeptic 
seldom attempts to explore. Religion per se is 
kept at the front, and challenges, but seldom 
receives, direct attack. It implies that the future 
world will be but a more full development of the 
truth, the wisdom, the virtue, the knowledge, and 
the worship of God, which have their beginning 
in this. Thus the evidence on which the Chris- 
tian's faith rests is a part of the Christian's daily 
life — it is a conspicuous item of his experience — 
and every part of this wide field invites the attack 
of the skeptic. Why leave all these important 



7 8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



matters untouched, and assail us with fancy flights 
of rhetoric and lava-like invectives, which signify 
nothing? 

§ 4. If Ingersoli, is a Model Man, Christianity 
„ must be False. 

In principle and judgment he is one thing, and 
Christianity is another. He looks upon the world 
as self-originated, a thing of chance, without law, 
deserving to be reprobated; and, if created, as the 
work of an "infinite fiend." The moral world he 
ignores ; denies the freedom of the will and man's 
responsibility. For virtue and vice he has neither 
praise nor blame, as both are the results of neces- 
sity. This world and this life only are deserving 
of attention, and not a ray of light penetrates 
the grave. 

Where is the proof that this man is endowed 
with the wisdom and virtue which we should 
accept as the standard by which all things else 
should be tried and judged? If his mind is as 
broad as the universe, his decisions just, and his 
feelings correct, then the conclusions he draws 
from the Bible and nature, that the world is with- 
out a Moral Governor, may be accepted as legiti- 
mate. In its last analysis, the question comes to 
this: Either Ingersoll on the one hand, or the 
teachings of nature and religion on the other, 
must be declared bankrupt and worthless. The 
doctrines of both can not pass as sound in this 
world, to say nothing of the next. To appreciate 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 



79 



fully his position we must bear in mind that he 
is as much the antagonist of the religion of nature 
as of the Bible, and, fundamentally, for the same 
reasons. Are not his conceptions of man and 
government low down in the scale of morality? 
Would he not carry us back a thousand years, 
into some half-civilized land, for models of excel- 
lence, and thus reverse the wheels of evolution? 
Till the skeptic, by a life of unselfish devotion to 
the good of humanity, shall furnish us much addi- 
tional proof of his wisdom and superior virtues, we 
shall decline to accept him as the oracle of the 
nineteenth century. 

The administrative elements of government 
are many, like the strings of a harp, and it seems 
that our skeptic, led by his impulsive passions, 
has seized upon the one to which his nature most 
readily responds, and with its monotonous tones 
has tried to drown the music of all the rest. To 
have a just conception of either God or nature, 
they must be seen in their relations to each other 
and to man. A judge would not long be tolerated 
who, in passing sentence, never consulted the 
safety of society, the facts of testimony, the law in 
the case, his oath of office, or sense of justice, 
but in a weak and flabby spirit yielded, in the 
decision of the case, to the sympathies he might 
have for the guilty party; nor a surgeon who 
would yield to his feelings of pity, and allow his 
patient to die before his eyes, when the use of the 
lancet might have saved him. 



8o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§5. The Mental Characteristics needed in 
this Discussion. 

The subject is of vast extent, and demands the 
calmest consideration. Even when feeling and 
passion are quiescent, and intellect, girded round 
by the laws of logic, is fully in the ascendant, there 
is still danger that our reasoning, because of the 
presence of illegitimate factors and the absence 
of such as are germane to the subject, may be fal- 
lacious; but how much greater the danger of error 
where the mind is hurried to conclusions by the 
rush of tumultuous passions! Structurally, intel- 
lect was made to think, and it is correlated to 
truth. To the healthy mind there is in truth a 
kind of self-evidence — a taste, a relish, peculiar to 
itself. To be a ready recipient of truth, the mind 
must be calm and serene, like truth itself; then, 
between the two, there will be an attraction, an 
inspiration, and an affinity. Truth is never in a 
hurry, never noisy, never boisterous, and never 
vindictive. Gentleness, simplicity, and an air of 
conscious strength, are essential characteristics of 
the real, the great, and the good ; and error is the 
most fully exposed by placing it fully in the light 
of truth. Truth inspires its possessor with confi- 
dence that, by its own might, it will win its way. 

The infidel writer is unknown to us who dis- 
cusses the subject of religion in this spirit. It 
seems that argument is dull business, and skeptics 
become interested only when the subject is carried 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 8 1 

into the region of invective and scorn. Then, as 
armed gladiators, they assail it as if they felt that 
they mnst slay or be slain. More frequently Inger- 
soll, especially, turns satirist and scoffer; but what- 
ever the weapons he uses, religion is assailed as 
if it were an enemy that had done him harm and 
was still threatening him with greater injury. He 
is, however, in his way, an intensely religious man, 
but embittered and angry because he can not 
smother his feelings and annihilate his interest in 
the subject. But the salt is there still, though it 
has lost its savor, as an egg is an egg though it 
has lost its health. Were his skepticism a matter 
of mere intellectual conviction, he would, on all 
occasions, calmly reason upon this theme, and 
expend his wit and satire upon less serious sub- 
jects. As a consequence, we find nothing new in 
all he has said. Not in his writings can an objec- 
tion to Christianity be found which had not, like 
burnt powder, spent its strength before he was 
born. 

§ 6. BoivD Assertions not to be substituted for 
Candid Convictions. 

Colonel Ingersoll gives us proof in abundance, 
that he is not susceptible of being deeply im- 
pressed with the abstract idea of the Infinite. 
He associates the idea with time, space, number, 
force, etc., and regards the term as belonging to 
a variety of abstractions. Then with the same 
breath he says (Letter to Judge Black): "What 



8 2 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

we know of the Infinite is almost infinitely lim- 
ited;" and yet, on the basis of this "limited 
knowledge," he denies that a God can exist who 
possesses infinite attributes. He seems to stag- 
ger a little at the boldness and inconsistency of 
his own language, and adds: "But little as we 
know, all have an equal right to give their hon- 
est thought." Can a man honestly think he has 
a judgment on a subject in regard to which he 
confesses that his knowledge is "almost infinitely 
limited?" Headstrong and irresponsible bold- 
ness will incline him to talk, but prudence and 
candor would incline him to say, modestly: "I do 
not understand the question. My powers are in- 
adequate to grasp the Infinite. I can not go far 
in any direction without confronting the Infinite ; 
and, on the instant, I am arrested, and can go no 
further. The abstract infinities, we know, may 
point to a Being in whom all infinity is con- 
crete." This man is really trying to change the 
sentiment of the world, and blight the fairest 
hopes that ever animated the human heart ; and 
yet he seems to be devoid of all sense of respon- 
sibility in the matter of expressing a baseless 
opinion. He is as loquacious and as ready in his 
popular lectures to call forth the shouts of the 
rabble against the deepest interest of man in 
himself and in his eternity as in the most trifling 
affairs of the day. The fact that his knowledge is 
"almost infinitely limited" in regard to these 
things, that what he says will contain but an 



VALUE OF INFIDEL ARGUMENTS. 83 



infinitesimal portion of truth at best, and that the 
false doctrine he inculcates may do a vast amount 
of harm, makes no difference with him ; he wants 
to talk, and he will talk. It is for these reasons 
that the noisy demonstrations which attend his 
lectures amount to nothing. The furor over, it 
is found that the truth stands as firm as ever. In 
ignorance of the tone of public sentiment, he 
thinks he has suffered by expressing his "honest 
opinion" in the past, and now seems bent on 
revenging on society the consequences of his 
own folly. 

§ 7. In the Absence of Principles, the Argu- 
ment VARIES WITH THE CHANGING MOODS OF 

the Skeptic. 

The little reptile known as the chameleon has 
a way of impelling to the surface a new color 
with every breath, thus conforming in appearance 
to its environments and eluding the greed of its 
pursuers. So, in the absence of fact and law and 
principle as a guide, the infidel is at liberty to ex- 
press his feelings to suit the ever-shifting cir- 
cumstances in which he may be placed. As a 
brother at his brother's grave Colonel Ingersoll 
said: "We cry aloud, and the only answer is the 
echo of our wailing cry." The infidelity which 
held sway on this occasion was the feeling of 
sad despair. On another occasion the language 
used was as follows: "The dream of immortal 
life has always existed in the heart of man, and 



8 4 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



will remain there in all its matchless charms." 
Another feeling here expressed contains the ele- 
ment and a prophecy of a life in another world. 

These diverse utterances may serve as samples 
of the different forms and colorings infidelity may 
assume as the occasions may change and the moods 
of the skeptic may vary. 

I am aware that, in a general way, I am deal- 
ing very freely with Colonel Ingersoll himself ; but 
I judged it best, at the commencement of this 
discussion, to analyze the man, to present a cor- 
rect picture of him personally, and detect in his 
make-up and habits of thought, as far as possible, 
the ground of his Atheism ; for an Atheist he is. 
We have done this from the consideration that his 
skepticism is without a solid foundation, to the 
extent that it is rooted in his perverted feelings, 
or his misapprehensions of the truths of either 
nature or the Bible. So far as his infidelity is 
subjective, it should have no influence in shaping 
the views or life of another. 

As we now advance in the discussions, our rep- 
resentations will be amply verified in his own 
words, and it will seldom be necessary for us 
to go further than his letters to Dr. Field and 
Mr. Gladstone. As he plays but one string of 
the harp of both natural and revealed religion, 
we get the same music at all his performances. 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 85 



CHAPTER V. 

THE IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT AGAINST CHRIS- 
TIANITY AND PAGANISM. 

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou 
thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself, but I 
will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes. 

—Psalms. 

§ 1. Thk Position of the Atheist stated. 

As the representative of trie infidelity of the 
day, it is due to all concerned that Colonel Inger- 
soll be permitted to formulate the accepted creed. 
He says: "I regard all religions either without 
prejudice or with the same prejudice. They are 
all, according to my belief, devised by men, 
and all have for a foundation ignorance of this 
world and fear of the next. All the gods have 
been made by men. They are all equally power- 
ful and equally useless. I like some of them 
better than I do others, for the same reason that 
I admire some characters in fiction more than I 
do others. I prefer Miranda to Caliban, but have 
not the slightest idea that either ever existed. So 
I prefer Jupiter to Jehovah, although perfectly 
satisfied that both are myths." (Reply to Manning.) 

The sweeping character of this Atheism de- 
serves special attention. "All the gods have been 
made by men;" that is, there is no God; the sup- 



86 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



posed gods are myths, and an inferior place is 
assigned to the mythical God of Christianity. 
The different forms of religion connected with 
these myths occupy the same plane of ignorance 
and fear. We are asked to believe that all nations, 
in all ages, and especially the most intelligent, as 
the Greek and Roman, have been given to worship 
and religious observances, and yet that this phe- 
nomenon, the greatest element of human life, has 
no root in reality; that at base, the most positive 
and affirmative factors in the world's history, there 
is no reality — all is nonentity! The discovery 
has just been made that man, the necessary wor- 
shiper, has nothing to worship. 

§2. In this Systkm of Atheism, Objections to 
the Bible occupy a Secondary Place. 

Because a specialty has been made of the sup- 
posed "mistakes of Moses," the impression has 
gone abroad that upon these this system of Athe- 
ism is based. This is a mistake of the people, 
and it has brought upon the Bible an amount of 
odium and vituperation which was not intended 
for it. The skeptic deserves credit for going 
further than Moses in laying the foundation of his 
unbelief. He had become an Atheist from other 
considerations — from the study of the world itself — 
and a great parade is made of the "mistakes of 
Moses," because the Jewish lawgiver assumes the 
existence of God as a self-evident truth. Having 
failed to recognize God as the author of nature in 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 



87 



his true character, the infidel is unable to interpret 
the wrongs, the crimes, and the miseries of earth 
as consistent with his attributes of infinite wisdom, 
power, and goodness, and hence he is led to deny 
his existence. We would call special attention to 
this phase of the question, because it serves as the 
ground-work of the whole discussion, and will 
receive much .attention in the pages which are to 
follow. In truth, this treatise owes its existence 
to the discovery that no one of the replies made to 
Ingersoll, so far as examined, accepted his chal- 
lenge to give to nature an interpretation which 
would at the same time be consistent with the 
facts of observation and the existence of a God of 
infinite perfections. Let it, then, be constantly 
borne in mind that, in this controversy, the Bible 
occupies but a secondary place. 

The following is Colonel Ingersoll's challenge 
for proof that a God exists: "Does history show 
that there is a moral governor of the world? 
What witnesses shall we call? The billions of 
slaves who were paid with blows? The countless 
mothers whose babes were sold? Have we time 
to examine the W T aldenses, the Covenanters of 
Scotland, the Catholics of Ireland ; the victims of 
St. Bartholomew, of the Spanish Inquisition, all 
those who have died in the flames? Shall we hear 
the story of Bruno? Shall we ask Servetus ? Shall 
we ask the millions slaughtered by Christian 
swords in America? All the victims of ambition, 
of perjury, of ignorance, of superstition and re- 



88 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



venge, of storms, of earthquakes, of famine, flood, 
and fire?" 

It will be noticed that "storms" and "earth- 
quakes," "famine," "flood" and "fire," "igno- 
rance," "ambition," "perjury," "superstition," and 
"revenge," are classed together as facts of nature, 
and as phenomena which prove that the world is 
without a "moral governor." In this connection 
no reference is made to the Bible, or even to the 
"mistakes of Moses." Nature is interrogated, and 
it is understood to give answer that there is no 
God, and that the world is a thing of chance. 

§ 3. The Infidel's Conception of What the Cre- 
ator and Governor of this World would 
be did One exist. 

Judging from his feelings what he, himself, 
would do were he God, the skeptic is sure that 
everything would be so managed that happiness, 
and only happiness, would be the result; hence, 
in the face of the facts of sin and suffering which 
confessedly exist and ever have existed, he aban- 
dons the problem of God's existence, and takes 
refuge in Atheism. Were he to admit that the 
world has a Creator and that a system of govern- 
ment prevails, he would not permit himself to see 
any force or energy in it but the exertion of one, 
personal, arbitrary power as the direct and imme- 
diate cause of all that takes place. If the earth 
quakes ; if volcanoes spout their cataracts of lava ; 
if islands sink in the ocean ; if tidal waves roll and 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 89 

smite the shore ; if cities topple to their fall ; if the 
cyclone sweeps over the country, or the lightnings 
smite man or beast or building; if the pestilence 
visits the people, or if anywhere there is ruin and 
wretchedness, it is because the Governor of the 
world finds pleasure in the miseries of its inhab- 
itants. He breathes, and the poison of his breath 
breeds disease, and in every house are found the 
dead and the dying; he opens his hand, and the 
deluging floods sweep over the face of the earth, 
leaving behind it a track of ruin ; his wrath kin- 
dles the fire, and cities are carried off in smoke and 
flame; his ire burns, and nations meet upon the 
battle-field, and 

"How the red rain makes the harvest grow!" 

he withholds the rain or sends the frost, in mere 
spite or ill-will, and famine stalks abroad through- 
out the land ; he envies the people their life, and 
how the grave-yards grow! he puts avarice, lust, 
ambition, perjury, envy, hate, deception, injustice, 
pride, and superstition into the hearts of men, and 
thus this Infinite One becomes the real author of 
the manifold wrongs and sufferings which they 
inflict upon each other. His favorite work may 
be seen in the prison, the lazar-house, the asylum, 
on the fields of Wagram, Waterloo, the Wilderness, 
Gettysburg, and wherever the demon of destruction 
has held high court. The world of matter and 
men are alike passive in his hands. He is the sole 
energy of the universe. Every thing and every 

event must be regarded as an exact expression of 

8 



9Q 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



his will ; especially must the whole catalogue of 
human crimes and sorrows be held to be the proper 
exponents of his character. Such a creator and 
governor he would regard as an "infinite fiend," 
or as "the god of hell;" and because he can not 
believe in the existence of such a being, he is an 
Atheist. 

§4. Atheism the Outcome of Paganish Concep- 
tions of God. 

The truth is dawning upon us that this Christian 
land is not so far from the heathen world as we 
may have supposed. Let one spend a day or so 
in the study of the Iliad and the ^Eneid, and thor- 
oughly refresh his mind with the conceptions of 
the divinities there set forth — Jupiter, Juno, Janus, 
Vulcan, Mars, Bacchus, etc. — and he will see but 
little, if any, difference between the mental and 
moral state of the heathen poets and the American 
philosopher. The poets seemed to possess a meas- 
ure of faith, reverence, and devotion ; the philoso- 
pher none. 

Or, if we pass over the mountains and mingle 
with the millions of ancient India, study the Veda 
and Vedic literature, till we can drink of the 
spirit of that ancient worship, and become fa- 
miliar with the gods to whom they offered sacra- 
fice — Varuna, Indra, Agni Dayus, Murats, and all 
others known to the Pantheon — we shall be con- 
ducted at once into the line of thought and 
feeling which forms the basis of this modern 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 



91 



Atheism. In fact, Ingersoll's conception of Chris- 
tianity would be a caricature of either Greek, 
Roman, or Hindu Paganism. The conceptions of 
Zeus-Pater, or Jupiter — that is, Heaven-Father — 
which those peoples formed, are purer, higher, 
and more worthy than he can form of the Creator 
of the world or the God of the Bible. 

In those far-away ages the Pagan knew so 
little of the inherent forces of matter and laws 
of nature, that in his attempt to account for the 
least of the phenomena of nature he was com- 
pelled to call in the agency of some supernatural 
being. When he saw the black cloud come up 
out of the ocean and stretch out its wings over 
the vast plains of his country, attended by light- 
ning, thunder, and terrible winds, then pour its 
deluging rains upon the earth, he could do no 
better than imagine that Murats, Agni, Indra, 
and perhaps some other gods, were performing 
their legitimate work of mercy and vengeance. 
iEtna and Vesuvius were the chimneys of the forges 
where Vulcan made thunderbolts. Neptune ruled 
the sea, and the wild waves were expressions of 
his wrath. As each one of the forces of nature, 
great and small, was personified and deified, the 
gods of the nations in number and variety were 
abundant, and the Pagan prepared his sacrifices 
accordingly. It is, on the supposition that a God 
exists, in this channel precisely that the mind of 
the modern skeptic moves — belated, unfortunately, 
four thousand years. 



92 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 5. Thk Dkath-bix>w to Polytheism. 

The first verse in the Bible was written to 
expel from the mind the idea of a multiplicity of 
gods. "In the beginning God" — the one God — 
"created the heaven and the earth;" and the 
creator must also be the governor of the world. 
All other gods are thus rendered superfluous and 
abolished. If, then, there is no such god as Vul- 
can, earthquakes, volcanoes, and lightning-bolts 
must be accounted for otherwise than by invoking a 
divine agency; if Varuna be not a god, then the 
wide expanse of heaven can not be looked upon as 
a supernatural presence ; and if Neptune be a myth 
and not the god of the sea, it will be useless to 
offer sacrifices to him. The powers of these sup- 
posed gods Colonel Ingersoll caii not part with 
and retain the idea of the existence of a Divine 
Being. In the solution of the problem it seems 
that at one period of his life he accepted the God 
of revelation as the aggregation of the powers 
of all the gods which had been abolished, and as 
the result he found that he had in hand an "infi- 
nite fiend," and then he abolished this himself. 

It is worthy of note that science and phi- 
losophy have done valiant service in the war 
which religion has carried on for ages against 
idolatry. Without the aid of Vulcan and Neptune 
we can now account for the volcano and the 
storm. As science has done so much by its inter- 
pretations of nature to remove from it the super- 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 93 



natural element, it is not strange that bold thinkers 
have inquired if it would not yet be found to 
contain within itself a full explanation of all its 
phenomena. Were such an end desirable, science 
has already, in the discoveries it has made of pur- 
pose, will, design, and wisdom in the mechanism 
of nature, done too much to admit of its possi- 
bility. The proposition that the general course 
of nature is an expression of a pre-existing intel- 
ligence is susceptible of absolute demonstration. 
In the unity and harmony of the wisdom dis- 
played, adapting means to ends and conserving 
force, we see that there can be but one God. 
Along these lines of thought anatomy, botany, 
physiology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy 
have poured their separate floods of light, and 
greatly aided in the demolition of idolatry or poly- 
theism. Revelation led the way, declaring that 
there was but one God ; and science followed, 
making manifest the truth. 

§ 6. The Real Battle-ground of Modern 
Atheism. 

Can there be one God of infinite perfections 
who can, with reason, be accepted as the creator 
and governor of the universe, as we see it, and of 
which we form a part ? Such is the question be- 
fore us. The infidel answers no ; and assigns as 
his reason, that such a God would create a world 
of absolute perfection, free from crime and misery. 
The pagan would answer : There are gods many, 



94 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



some good, some bad, and each creates and gov- 
erns according to his own nature. The reasons 
for both answers at base are the same ; namely, 
that crime and misery, as well as virtue and 
happiness, must have a divine origin if a God 
exist. 

Any creed or philosophy which requires us to 
believe that God, if there be a God, is the author 
of sin, necessarily leads to Atheism. We find in 
nature what appears to some people to be an 
avoidable mixture of good and bad, order and dis- 
order, right and wrong ; and these things, by 
identifying God and nature, or excluding the pos- 
sibility of a perfect God, lead to Atheism. Thus, 
in a series of negatives, mostly inferences from 
hypothetical premises, Atheism assumes to exist 
wholly outside of the Bible. Were it not that 
people generally accept the Bible as true, it would 
not be deemed worthy of notice. 

§ 7. At the Bask of this Infidelity there is 
Nothing New t or Strange. 

It must be confessed that, for many genera- 
tions past, the philosophy and theology which 
have been current in the world — which have 
swayed the minds of men in the academy and 
the sanctuary — have been identical with the base 
of Atheism as it exists to-day. The difference 
between theoretical Atheism and Christianity has 
been the difference between two inferences from 
the same premises. The question both parties 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 95 



had to answer was this: Can the one God be the 
author of all things? The Atheist said, "No; for 
there can not be a God if he is the author of sin 
and misery." The Christian said, "Yes; but the 
deep things of God we can not understand." 
The one class became bold scoffers; the other de- 
vout, blind worshipers. Even up to this day, God 
is regarded as all-comprehensive, all-embracing, 
in bulk and number infinite ; and we are charged 
with Atheism if we question such nonsense. The 
Christian philosopher Lotze has spun and spread 
these notionr, out into a system of philosophy 
which he regards as a microcosm. He first sub- 
stitutes the extreme abstraction infinite for a per- 
sonal God, and its "activity" is the universe. 
Hence each phenomenon the world presents is a 
divine act. The good and bad alike have a di- 
vine origin. 

The same history, the same outward array of 
facts, is presented to both the infidel and the 
Christian. In regard to the moral character of 
the facts presented there can be no room for dis- 
pute. The Christian philosopher accepts the God 
represented by the evils, crimes, and miseries of 
earth; but the infidel rejects him unless, as he 
says, "he is to be regarded as the God of hell," 
"having the supposed character of the infinite 
fiend." With neither of these classes of thinkers 
can we agree, and yet we sympathize with the 
misfortunes and miseries of both. Unfortunately 
both are alike oblivious to the essential principles 



9 6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



of the moral government of the world. The key- 
stone to that arch is wholly lacking in both sys- 
tems of thought. Were we compelled to accept 
the premises of the philosophers, we should yield 
to the conclusions of the Atheist. It would not 
be possible for us to believe in the existence of a 
God whose character and will were represented by 
the sins and miseries which compose so large a 
part of human history. Such a distortion of both 
God and nature as this theory implies is worse 
than Atheism. 

§8. The Observed Facts of Nature should be 
interpreted in the llght of its consti- 
TUTION. 

In the fact that in this world we meet with 
nothing that stands isolated and alone, everything 
being related to something else, there is positive 
proof that Nature is governed in accordance with 
a constitution which is an expression of its laws 
and the relation of its parts. In its investigation, 
therefore, there is much which demands atten- 
tion besides God as cause, or things simply as 
effects. The constitution of both the physical 
and moral worlds, and their relation to each 
other, need, in this connection, the most careful 
consideration. Without controversy, this is a 
world of sin and suffering. Instead of attempt- 
ing to throw a veil over this phase of human life, 
in no other volume that was ever written are the 



IDENTITY OF THE ARGUMENT. 97 

facts made so conspicuous and impressive as in 
the Bible. The problem how they and an infi- 
nite God can exist at the same time we are com- 
pelled to look fully in the face. It does not suit 
the plan of this work to discuss that question 
now — later we shall attack it — as we are now 
simply in search of the basal elements of infidel- 
ity ; and we desire to set forth fully, without any 
break, the important fact that it is rooted prima- 
rily in the observed and misinterpreted phenomena 
of Nature, not in its constitution nor in the Bible. 
Were the Bible as free from flaw as a diamond, it 
would have no bearing on the question. That 
was settled outside the Bible, in part, as follows: 

"Here is a world in which there are countless 
varieties of life. These varieties are, in all prob- 
ability, related to each other — everything devour- 
ing something, and in its turn devoured by some- 
thing else; everywhere claw and beak, hoof and 
tooth; everything seeking the life of something 
else ; every drop of water a battle-field ; every 
atom being for some wild beast a jungle, every 
place a Golgotha; and such a world is declared 
to be the work of the infinitely wise and compas- 
sionate." (Letter to Gladstone.) 

Mind, Colonel Ingersoll is not referring to the 
"mistakes of Moses," nor in any way criticising 
the Bible. He is impeaching the authorship of 
that older volume, the Book of Nature. He first 
denies a creator to the physical and moral worlds, 

9 



9 8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



and the above graphic picture is given of animal 
life to show that its author can not be God, and 
thus to enlarge the basis of his Atheism. 

The questions here suggested are of wide sig- 
nificance, and should not be settled in haste. 
The point to be considered is that of relation- 
ship. If the world was created on the principle 
of the production of the highest and best — " the 
survival of the fittest" — it may be that the de- 
pendence of one animal upon another for food, in 
some cases, was the only method which would 
produce that result. We assume that such was 
the case, as we can conceive of none better; and 
the skeptic was bound, before denouncing what 
is, to point out a wiser way. 

We can not deprecate too earnestly the policy 
of judging the universe from isolated items, taken 
up here and there, and considered out of all their 
relations. Such conceptions of the world and its 
government are narrow, imperfect, and fundamen- 
tally wrong. The wiser way is to examine each 
part in the light of its relations to other parts 
and to the whole. 



FURTHER DE VELOPMENT. 



99 



CHAPTER VI. 

A FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ATHEISTIC THOUGHT. 

The owlet Atheism 
Sailing on obscure wing across the moon, 
Drops his blue-fringed lids and shuts them close, 
And hooting at the glorious sun in heaven, 
Cries out, Where is it? — Coi^ridge;. 

§i. Nature Primarily the Basis of Infidelity. 

As we advance in this discussion it should be 
constantly borne in mind that the form of Atheism 
we are considering has no essential connection 
with the Bible ; that it is the outcome of a nar- 
row and imperfect reading of nature, and nature 
was before the Bible ; and that the assault upon 
the Bible is made as a personal luxury, that a 
previously established position might be main- 
tained. It is supported first from supposed flaws 
in material nature ; then its basis is enlarged and 
strengthened by a consideration of the animal 
creation ; and, finally, the sinful and wretched 
condition of man is brought forward as proof that 
there can be no God. 

By putting together, in a heterogeneous way, 
fragments of Scripture, relics of the prehistoric 
age, geologic records, and scraps of history, In- 
gersoll favors us with the following as his portrait 



IOO 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



of humanity. If, first of all, poets and painters 
put themselves into the productions of their ge- 
nius, we may expect to see in the following picture 
the Atheist himself. He says: "Jehovah pre- 
pared a home for his children, — first, a garden in 
which they should be tempted, and from which 
they should be driven ; then a world filled with 
briers and thorns and poisonous beasts — a world 
in which the air should be filled with the enemies 
of human life ; a world in which disease should 
be contagious, and in which it was impossible to 
tell, except by experiment, the poisonous from the 
nutritious ; and these children were allowed to 
live in dens and holes, and fight their way against 
monstrous serpents and crouching beasts ; were 
allowed to live in ignorance and fear ; to have 
false ideas of this good and loving God — ideas so 
false that they made a fiend of him ; ideas so false 
that they sacrificed their wives and babes to ap- 
pease the wrath of this imaginary monster." 
(Letter to Gladstone.) 

It will be noticed, in the sketch above given 
of the creation of the world, that man, as well as 
beasts, briers, and thorns, is represented as having 
always been a passive creature, and that his mis- 
eries are considered as an exact expression of 
God's will and pleasure in regard to him. If, be- 
cause of crime, a man is compelled to flee from 
society to save his life from the vengeance of the 
enemies he has made, it is assumed that an unkind 
God, if there be a God, has driven him from his 



FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. 



101 



home, and if the guilty creature is unable to find 
a place of safety from his outraged and relentless 
pursuers except in dens and caves, where he is 
compelled to fight his way against monstrous 
beasts, it is also the unprovoked wrath of a "mon- 
strous God" that is pursuing him. It is quite 
likely that the Troglodytes, or the cave-dwellers of 
France, were the fragments of a once prosperous 
people, whom the fortunes of war had reduced to 
such an extremity that they could find safety only 
in concealment. The homes of the ancient cliff- 
dwellers of Colorado and Arizona were selected 
for a similar purpose. And who are the low, 
wretched Fuegians, but the last perishing frag- 
ment of a people which vengeance, just or unjust, 
drove from the milder climate and the more gen- 
erous soil of Patagonia? 

It is held by the scoffer that in all such cases 
as those mentioned the Creator, and not the 
creature, is the responsible party. Is the man 
honest? Is it possible that he believes himself? 
Is not his language a deliberate attempt to im- 
pose upon the ignorant and the credulous ? If the 
man is sincere, has he not become the victim of 
perverted, morbid feelings, and of the grossest 
misconceptions ? or is he simply trying his hand 
at caricature as an amusement? The god which 
nature reveals to the wayward imagination of the 
Atheist is glutted with satisfaction at the sight of 
the degradation and the miseries he describes. Is 
this a true rendering of the testimony nature 



102 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



gives in regard to its maker, if a maker it have? 
Because Ingersoll can not believe in the God he 
describes, he can not believe in any. His con- 
ception of a God is that of an anthropomorphic 
being, who is a very bad man, with powers en- 
larged to infinity. This impression is formed, not 
from reading the Bible, but from the study of na- 
ture. The picture I have transcribed is his master- 
piece. It is an epitome of the world he lives in. 
It is the ground of his Atheism. 

§2. Athkism isa Misconception of the Facts of 
Nature. 

Well, Ingersoll can not reject the god of his 
imagination more energetically than we do, and 
we think he does well to call it a "myth" and a 
"monster." If he thinks he is talking about the 
God of the Bible, the Being who "sitteth in the 
heavens shall have him in derision." How per- 
verted must be one's mind, what a desert his 
moral nature, who can give birth to such an atro- 
cious character when thinking of the Creator of 
the world we live in ! Nothing more hideous has 
ever come to us from Aztec orgies, or from the 
smoking altars of Baal, the meanest of all the 
gods of heathendom. We are not sure whether 
these conceptions of the Infinite and Holy One 
are the creations of a perverted judgment, or 
whether they spring from a wayward fancy and a 
depraved heart. 



FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. 1 03 

Or has the skeptic been imposed upon in his 
readings, and sadly misled by them? He writes 
as if his mind were thoroughly steeped in the 
mythologies of India and Greece and Rome, and 
of the ancient Northmen. Has he been reading 
the Edda, the Veda, and other sacred books of 
ancient nations, as if they were authorities in re- 
ligion? If so, did he regard what was there said 
of Thor, Woden, Janus, Zeus, Ormuzd, Agni, and 
Murats as referring to the God of nature? At 
every turn we are compelled to note the fact that 
in spirit Ingersoll is an unbelieving Pagan. His 
real brother in faith is an educated Hindu, or 
Goth, who has rejected Brahmanism, or the wor- 
ship of Thor, and is in ignorance of the Chris- 
tian conception of the world. If in any ancient 
heathen land, one were born in squalor and reared 
in want and misery, and had to contend with 
thorns and briers, and suffer from contagious dis^ 
eases ; if doomed to live in dens and contend with 
poisonous serpents, it was supposed that the un* 
fortunate creature was pursued by Nemesis, oi 
some other vengeful god, who delighted in his 
misery. Exactly Ingersoll's conception of the 
Creator and Governor of the world. This feature 
of heathen mythology, strange as it may seem, is 
read into both nature and the Bible, practically 
excluding the true spirit of the Scriptures. The 
whole is then judged by this accretion from 
without. 



1 04 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

§2. A Misconception of Providence tends to 
Atheism. 

Colonel Ingersoll gives us another installment 
of perverted views of God and nature as follows : 

"Why should an infinitely wise and powerful 
God destroy the good and preserve the vile? 
What do I mean by this question? Simply this: 
The earthquake, the lightning, the pestilence are 
no respecters of persons. The vile are not always 
destroyed, the good are not always saved. Why 
should Jehovah allow his worshipers, his adorers, 
to be destroyed by his enemies? Can you possi- 
bly answer this question?" (Letter to Glad- 
stone.) 

Such are the profound conundrums Ingersoll 
propounds to Gladstone; but we can see nothing 
in them but his ever-recurring heathenish con- 
ceptions of the Almighty. The god of his imag- 
ination is a Vulcan, an Agni, or some other force 
of nature personified. If a worshiper of Mars 
were killed in battle, a worshiper of Neptune 
might rail at the war-god, and drown his fleet 
because he was not true to his friends. In an- 
cient times the worshipers of Juno and Jupiter 
had occasion to blaspheme each other's gods a la 
Ingersoll. So coarse and gross are Ingersoll's 
conceptions of things divine, that in case of an 
earthquake ingulfing the inhabitants of towns 
and cities, he conceives God to be a sort of Vul- 
can, swinging a sledge-hammer and smiting the 



FUR THER DE VEL OPM ENT. 1 05 

cavernous sides of the earth in spite and wrath, 
as when a bruiser smites a fellow-being on the 
skull with a bludgeon ; and so indifferent is he to 
character or to friends that he does n't think of 
them, but allows them to perish with the vile and 
with his enemies. Let it not be forgotten that 
the Bible is not brought into this argument, as 
the conceptions of God are all drawn from what 
is observable in the natural world. If when the 
earthquake prostrates the city, God would send a 
squadron of angels to pick out the "good" and 
"his friends," and carry them away to some place 
of safety a few days before the judgment fell, he 
would believe in him. How many would thus be 
carried away before the vile would feign repentance 
and promise reformation? What would Colonel 
Ingersoll do as he felt the ground tremble beneath 
his feet? Would he not affect a little piety? 

If a passenger- train, freighted with the vile 
and the good, were likely to plunge into the gulf 
below whilst passing over a badly built bridge — 
the law of mechanics having been violated in its 
construction — that there might be proof satisfac- 
tory to the skeptic that a God exists, he would 
have him either support the bridge till the train 
had passed over, or, if the vile must perish, take 
the good out of the car windows, carry them home 
again, and not allow them "to perish with the 
vile." Such a God would be worth having. 

It can not be denied that God has often per- 
mitted his enemies to destroy his worshipers — 



1 06 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

" his adorers " — and this is thought to be the 
mystery of mysteries. " Can you possibly explain 
it?" he asks Mr. Gladstone. The reply, if one 
has been made, we have not seen ; but we answer, 
Because it is wise to do so. The most useful 
period of Bunyan's life was the twelve years he 
spent in the Bedford jail. Paul was never more 
useful than when a prisoner at Rome. The death 
of Stephen opened up a visible pathway to the 
better land. God takes some in mercy to the 
heavenly country, and spares them the evils of 
this world. When Paul died it. was better that he 
sacrifice his life for the truth a thousand times 
than that the truth be sacrificed to save his life. 
Bare existence is not the chief good. In the ab- 
sence of principle and honor, it is not worth 
having. 

Some may think we are ungenerous, if not un- 
just, in speaking of Ingersoll as a Pagan. When 
first we noticed the application of this title to him 
by the secular press, we attached but little im- 
portance to it, as we took it to be mere banter or 
pleasantry; but our study of the man, and of the 
reason he gives for his Atheism, has made it 
clear to us that, in the name of Christianity, he 
is really hurling his shafts of ridicule against the 
mythical gods of ancient heathendom. The gods 
of the Iliad and of the Veda are far nearer his 
conceptions of what the Creator should be than 
the God which is revealed in nature and the 
Bible. Ingersoll combines the civilization of the 



FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. 



nineteeth century with the Paganism of twenty- 
five centuries ago, and now labors to slough off the 
religious element. 

§ 4. As the Constitution of Nature is Perfect, 

IT WIXI, NOT ADMIT OF CHANGE. 

Nature is a unit; its innumerable parts go to 
make up a grand whole. If our minds were suffi- 
ciently capacious, it is likely that we could see that 
not an atom could be changed or destroyed without 
affecting the whole. 

In the following language the Atheist betrays 
his narrow conceptions of the constitution of nature 
by suggesting certain changes and improvements, 
whose scope and bearing he utterly fails to com- 
prehend. He inquires: " Would it not have been 
better had the world been so that parents would 
transmit only their virtues — only their perfections, 
physical and mental — allowing their diseases and 
vices to perish with them?" (Letter to Gladstone.) 

Why so modest — why stop here? Once in the 
business of suggesting improvements of the order 
of nature, a multitude of points might be touched 
to advantage. "Would it not be better if the 
world had been so" that a part had been equal to 
the whole, then all would have had an abundance 
of everything; that a straight line carry us around 
a curve, and thus often shorten the distance; that 
the sun had been so constituted that it would give 
us the balmy air and a world of vegetation, but 
not the tornado nor the deluging flood; that rocks 



108 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

had been so that when in a wall they wonld be 
hard and heavy, capable of immense resistance, 
and then, in case one should fall on a child, a 
woman, or a man, become light as cotton? How 
easy for infinite wisdom, power, and goodness to 
have made these provisions for human comfort, and 
save life, especially that the good might not perish 
with the vile! As all these things have been 
neglected and are different, how can it be that the 
world has a "moral governor?'' How can it be 
that the God of nature cares for one class more 
than another, since he " allows his enemies to 
murder his adorers?" Why did he not add: The 
gods of the Iliad, the Veda, and the Edda " stand 
by their friends better than that." He says fur- 
ther: " Never will I worship any being who added 
to the sorrows and agonies of maternity." What! 
do you believe that that has been done by the God 
revealed in the Scriptures? If not, why say any- 
thing about it? We suppose the inference is that, 
as such, a God can not exist. 

In this department of life many improvements 
might be suggested. Why was not the good 
woman so constituted that in child-birth the pain- 
ful travail would be dispensed with, that whilst 
the child lived she would be supremely happy in 
her love for it, and that in case of its death her 
joy would be increased as she gazed upon its dis- 
torted features in the midst of the agonies of dis- 
solution? Had the world been thus created, what 
an untold amount of sorrow would have been 



FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. 109 

avoided and happiness secured! But as such is 
not the world, if it has a creator, he must be an 
" infinite fiend." 

Could anything but malignity have made iron 
so hard, mixed it with other substances, and hid 
it away from the eyes of men in deep, dark, damp 
mines, requiring toil and sweat and suffering to 
procure it? Benevolence would have made it soft, 
light, and pliable, till wrought into nails, horse- 
shoes, chains, bolts, and engines, and then caused 
it to become hard as adamant and as enduring as 
the ages. Why was not the human body so con- 
stituted that it could be susceptible only of pleas- 
ure? Why was not man created with a temper 
which would act only wisely, and remain quies- 
cent, except when its gratification would be bene- 
ficial? How easy thus to have saved the world 
from the violence which has done so much to 
make creation groan beneath its burden of mis- 
eries ! An Infinite Creator must have foreseen the 
consequences of his acts, and certainly a wise and 
good Being could not have been the author of 
this world! 

Suggestions of this kind might be multiplied 
ad infinitum; but they serve no purpose except to 
make apparent the shallow, surface views the 
skeptic entertains of nature. Its constitution 
and government by law — unchangeable, because 
founded in infinite wisdom — he does not consider 
for one moment. 

To keep clearly in view his line of thought, we 



no 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



must regard the god of his imagination as the 
direct and sole cause of all that is. As a personal 
gratification he causes the crimes and miseries of 
the world, inflicts the pains of maternity, causes 
fire to burn the flesh, kindles a fever in the blood, 
and plants the slow-consuming cancer on the lip, 
and in a multitude of ways causes humanity to 
suffer. 

Is it not clear that Atheism can do no more 
than find fault with what is, and suggest possible 
changes, but is utterly incompetent to reconstruct 
the constitution of nature so as to make it har- 
monize with the principles implied in the changes ? 
As it is not possible for us to lose sight of this 
fact, we can not regard his criticisms of nature as 
of any value, or his sweeping conclusions as of any 
consequence. 

As his blasphemies refer to the god of his im- 
agination, and clearly indicate that he has in mind 
the mythologies of Greece and Rome far more 
than the religion of Christ, they have ceased to 
affect us further than to excite our pity. 

What once touched us as the trenchant utter- 
ances of an earnest man, now apppear to be but 
a flood of rhetoric, thinly spread over an immense 
surface, and we feel sure that it will have but a 
transient effect upon the citadel of truth. "We 
can do nothing against the truth," said the Great 
Teacher. Christ's conception of truth seems to 
have been analogous to the chemist's conception 
of matter. He would no more attempt to change 



FUR THER DE VEL OPMENT. 1 1 1 



or destroy an atom than pluck a star from its 
sphere. Truth, in the world of truth, is as inde- 
structible as is matter in the world of matter. 
Matter evinces its power of resistance and endur- 
ance by continuing to be, amidst incessant change, 
what it has ever been ; and the tests and trials to 
which truth has been subjected, prove that it pos- 
sesses an equal tenacity of being. A proper con- 
ception of the nature of truth as a part of the 
constitution of nature, is enough to banish skepti- 
cism from the mind. 

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again ; 
The eternal years of God are hers." 



112 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CORRECT INTERPRETATION OF NATURE DISSI- 
PATES ATHEISM. 

The heavens are a point from the pen of his perfection; 
The world is a rose-bud from the bower of his beauty ; 
The sun is a spark from the light of his wisdom, 
And the sky a bubble on the sea of his power. 

—Sir E. Jones. 

§i. The Constitution of Matter. 

It seems to be a little paradoxical that an in- 
fidel should make an appeal to Nature for proof 
that it is without a Creator, but so it is ; and the 
case is made the worse by the affirmation that 
this fair world would be a disgrace considered as 
the workmanship of any being except an " infi- 
nite fiend." Nature, then, should be interrogated, 
and allowed to speak for herself in regard to her 
substance, constitution, and laws. The world of 
matter, the source of poisons, earthquakes, torna- 
does, storms, and pestilences will first receive at- 
tention. 

It has ever been the custom of Christian as 
well as skeptical writers to cast opprobrium upon 
all kinds of matter, the precious stones and metals 
excepted, as being gross, coarse, and an impedi- 
ment to the spiritual elevation of man. We hold 
that in this statement there is not only no truth, 



INTER PE TA TION OF NA TURE. 1 1 3 

but that it is slanderous. Matter should be 
thought of only as matter, and as such it is abso- 
lutely perfect. We utterly repudiate the meta- 
physical conception of the mathematical point as 
a center of force considered as the atom, for it 
contains no truth whatever. Logic will not per- 
mit us even to think force with nothing to exert 
it. We hold the atoms to be entities, individu- 
als, self-centered, self-contained, and sources of 
energy, — in the aggregate the energy of the phys- 
ical universe. Each kind of matter — as iron, gold, 
carbon, sulphur, etc. — is exactly adapted to the 
end it was intended to accomplish, and nothing 
else should be expected of it. The excellency of 
each kind of matter, and of different kinds in 
combination, may be seen not only in their ca- 
pacity to act, but in the limitations of their capac- 
ity to do specific work. The conception of an 
atom as a substance without properties or energy 
is inadmissible. 

§2. The Perfection of Matter demonstrated. 

But it may be asked, Can matter as a poison, 
destructive of life, human and animal, be consid- 
ered as perfect and good? Let us see; and we 
may as well take prussic acid, one of the most 
deadly of poisons, to aid us in an elucidation of the 
subject. This poison is composed of carbon, hy- 
drogen, and nitrogen — very abundant and common 
kinds of matter. The nitrogen forms a little 
more than three-fifths of the air we breathe, and 

10 



1 1 4 ANA TOM Y OF A THEISM. 

without it animal life would perish from the 
earth. Perfect in itself, it is also perfect in all its 
relations. Any change in its nature would affect 
the whole globe in many respects, and especially 
as a place of human habitation. Carbon consti- 
tutes a large part of the substance of the organic 
world, vegetable, animal, and human, and any 
change in its nature would disturb all its relations 
to other substances, and probably reduce the earth 
to a desert. Hydrogen is an abundant element, 
one of the components of water, and constitutes 
about one-twentieth part of the globe. Any 
change in its nature would modify, if not de- 
stroy, the waters of the globe, and radically dis- 
turb many other departments of nature. Then 
to render impossible the existence of prussic acid, 
it would be necessary to change the nature of 
either nitrogen, carbon, or hydrogen, and thus 
destroy the air or the water and the organic part 
of the world. 

But the infidel will inquire, If there be a God 
is not he, as the Absolute One, the force or en- 
ergy of nature? and if so, why in prussic acid 
should he take on the form of a deadly poison? 
We deny that God, in any sense whatever, is the 
force or energy displayed by this poison, or that 
he is the force of any other material substance. 
To meet this element of pantheism, we have iden- 
tified the atom of matter as a substance clothed 
with properties of its own and endowed with en- 
ergy. The physical energy of the universe, as 



INTERPRE TA TION OF NA TURE. 1 1 5 

now displayed, originates in the atoms. That 
God created things so to be, does not change 
existing facts. Rather the facts stand because 
they were made to endure. If the God of nature 
deserves reproach because poisons exist, he in- 
curred it by giving perfection to the primary ele- 
ments of the material universe. The elements 
of all poisons are as good and perfect as those 
described. 

§ 3. Apparent Evils may be an Absolute Good. 

And are we sure that even the possible exist- 
ence of poisons of all kinds known to us was not 
suggested by wisdom and beneficence? They oc- 
cupy an important place in manufactures, trade, 
and commerce, and, with an increase of knowl- 
edge, their usefulness, especially as medicines, 
may be largely extended. 

Chlorine forms a part of our table-salt, and 
yet if we unite it with hydrogen, a component of 
water, we have a deadly poison; but we would 
not think of changing or destroying these ele- 
ments for the sake of rendering impossible the 
existence of muriatic acid. In many particulars 
this compound is of great service to man. 

Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, combined in 
different proportions, give us alcohol and sugar; 
but nature furnishes the sugar ready-made in 
the juice of the grape, cane, beet, and maple, as 
it is one of the harmless essentials of human 
comfort. Now, because alcohol can be median- 



n6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ically produced, abused, and made the source of 
misery, shall the nature of these substances be 
changed and the good they contain be sacrificed? 
As nature is in this respect, can not we see in it 
an expression of beneficence? 

Carbon and hydrogen give us the newly dis- 
covered oil — or rather, the re-discovered oil, for Job 
was an oil prince, as the "rock," he said, "poured 
me out rivers of oil" — which a wise Providence 
had concealed deep down beneath the surface of 
the earth. But the skeptic may inquire, Would 
it not have been better, a saving of immense 
labor, and just as easy for the Infinite One to have 
caused the oil to flow on the surface of the earth 
like water ? We answer, No ; for in that condi- 
tion, exposed to the action of the air, it would 
not long have continued, because of the slight 
affinity which its two component elements have 
for each other. In that condition the hydrogen 
would have escaped, leaving the carbon a solid 
mass. Should we so change the nature of the 
hydrogen that its affinity for carbon would be in- 
creased to the extent necessary to preserve the 
oil in the open air, we should thereby destroy 
the waters of the globe and do a multitude of 
mischiefs. 

To change some of the elements of a kind, 
and not all, would be to multiply the kinds of 
matter, and throw the world back into its primitive 
chaotic state. 

Carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, united in cer- 



1NTERPRE TA TION OF NA TURE. 1 1 7 



tain proportions, form dynamite. It is a little 
remarkable, that nature has no process of forming 
this compound. It can, howeyer, be mechanically 
done, and the substance is then useful for the 
purpose of blasting rocks, blowing up fortifica- 
tions, etc.; but suppose some man — anarchist or 
crank — shall wickedly make use of this compound 
to blow up a parliament, a senate, or a city, and de- 
stroy the lives of thousands of people, shall the 
nature of these elements be brought forward as 
proof that, if there be a God, he must be an 
" infinite fiend?" 

Animal and vegetable matter, while going 
through the process of decay, sometimes collects 
in open sewers, the atmosphere of cities swarms 
with the invisible microbes which are generated, 
the people inhale them, the pestilence breaks out 
in the form of yellow fever, and hundreds or thou- 
sands are carried to the grave. To avoid this 
calamity, shall the animal and vegetable worlds be 
abolished? or shall everything, as it dies, become 
mummified or fossilized? No, neither would do. 
The interests of the world demand decay. A yel- 
low fever and a conflagration are alike matters of 
law, and we can get up, and run into, either. 
When the people, through indolence, allow the air 
of their city to become impure, it will work itself 
right, though they have to suffer while the process 
is going on. 

Should we subject the sixty-five or seventy 
kinds of matter known to the chemist, to exam- 



1 1 8 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

ination, we should find that each kind for the pur- 
pose of its existence is perfect — absolutely per- 
fect. Will the champion Atheist step to the 
front, and try the strength of his rhetoric on the 
imperfections of the constitution of matter? This 
is a field which should long since have engaged 
his attention; but, as an impulsive man, it suits 
his feelings better to rail at nature as a whole, 
and make sport for the rabble over the "mistakes 
of Moses." 

As law arises from the nature of the things 
governed, and is, to some extent, an expression of 
their essence, it follows, therefore, that the laws 
by which matter is governed are also perfect 
The properties and forces of each kind of matter 
are the true and only expression it can make of 
its nature, and they constitute the law by which 
it acts and is acted upon. 

§4. The; Play and Intersection of Different 
Kinds of Matter. 

It is probable that there is not an atom in the 
universe which is not .subject to the law of 
affinity and repulsion. Oxygen seems to hate 
fluorine, though, as an unlimited flirt, it is in love 
with everything else. It is the constant action 
and reaction of these forces which generates the 
physical energies of the universe — earthquakes, 
cyclones, floods, as well as the milder aspects 
of nature. 

By interaction the properties of different kinds 



INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. 119 

of matter mutually modify each other, and de- 
velop others which were not inherent in either in 
separation. The terrible force generated by sul- 
phuric acid does not pertain either to oxygen or 
to sulphur. Gravitation or attraction, the force 
which every atom exerts upon every other atom, 
is an influence which comes upon it from without ; 
otherwise all its forces are developed from within. 
A molecule of water is the sum of two united 
substances — two atoms of hydrogen and one atom 
of oxygen — and also of the united forces they 
mutually exert upon each other in forming the 
union. Though the compounds which may thus 
be formed are unlimited in number and variety, 
they all take place under the sway of laws which, 
like Him who ordained them, know "no variable- 
ness nor shadow of turning." It is probable that 
the least change in the essence of any kind of 
matter, followed as it would be by a modification 
of the laws of its action, would be attended by 
greater calamities than have been produced by 
all the earthquakes that ever shook the earth. 

Such is the constitution of nature that water 
may be changed into steam, and the process necessa- 
rily involves the development of force, the amount 
depending upon the quantity of water trans- 
formed. Now, should some considerable river find 
its way into the vast, deep caves of the earth, and 
there come into contact with extensive and un- 
quenchable fires, an earthquake might be the 
result. To avoid the shock, shall we take from 



120 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



water its evaporating and expansive property, and 
thus change the constitution of nature? In that 
case there would be no clouds in the sky, the re- 
freshing showers would not fall, and vegetation 
would die. We hold, then, that the world we 
have is as good and as perfect as it is possible for 
the human mind to comprehend, or to conceive a 
world to be. It is one thing to rail at nature, and 
another to suggest changes which would not be 
for the worse. 

§ 5. Matter, per se, thk Source of Energy. 

But we shall be asked by both infidels and 
Christians : Is not God the energetic and active 
part of the universe? Is it not his power which 
develops the acorn into the oak? Is not he the 
life of the plant, the worm, the reptile, the bird, 
the beast, and man ? Is he not the energy which 
causes the atoms to unite and form compounds ? 
Are not the new and strange forces which they 
develop divine forces? Are not gravitation, at- 
traction, and affinity the forces of the Infinite? 
Are not all kinds of matter mere dead, inert, pas- 
sive substances? Is not bare existence all that 
can be predicated of it? Are not all activities 
mere modifications of the divine activity ? 

All these questions we answer in the negative. 
God is God, and his personality forms no part of 
the universe he made. He is the ever "I Am." 
What he ts, he ever was. Matter, with its prop- 
erties, forces, and laws, is no part of his being ; it 



INTER PRE TA TION OF NA TURE. 1 2 1 

is matter, and nothing else — a part of what he 
created. 

If we wonld avoid the form of Atheism known 
as Pantheism, these distinctions mnst be sharply 
made and ever borne in mind. Unless we can 
conceive of God as a personal Being, having a 
distinct individuality of his own, and as no part 
of nature or of its forces or laws, there is nothing 
to be found in religion which is of any con- 
sequence. 

Along this line of thought — blending God and 
nature into one, after the style of Malebranche — 
Christian authors have, for centuries, poured forth 
a flood of pious nonsense, which has done much 
to lead the world astray, and drive the thinking 
portion of it into some form of infidelity. If Athe- 
ism consisted simply in denying that the force we 
meet in prussic acid, in the poison of a rattlesnake, 
or in the sweetness of sugar, or the light of a lamp, 
were divine forces, then should we take our stand 
in the ranks of Atheists. If faith in the existence 
of God implied that God, in the physical world, 
is gravitation, is attraction, is repulsion, is its co- 
hesive or explosive power, is also the diverse ener- 
gies developed by chemical changes, then, also, 
must we take our place in the ranks of the 
Atheists. It is a psychological impossibility to 
believe in God as a personal God unless we dis- 
tinguish sharply between him and the things he 
created. 

But how can mere matter possess properties 
ii 



122 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



and energy? Because its Creator saw proper to 
invest it with the properties and energies it now 
displays. The whole material universe is as we 
find it, because God saw proper to make it to be 
so. Could a solitary atom be placed so far away 
from all other atoms as not to feel the force of 
their existence, it would be practically passive ; 
but its latent energy would become active, either 
attractively or repulsively, on the approach, within 
its influence, of any other atom. Or, could all the 
different substances of the universe find a condi- 
tion of stable equilibrium, passivity would be the 
result. As it is, elemental strife is the actual con- 
dition of the matter of the universe, and the forces 
in action are its own. 

§ 6. The Existence of a Universe of Things 
does not infringe upon the being of god, 
but serves as a revelation of his power 
and Godhead. 

But how can God be thought of as infinite, as 
absolute, all in all, and unconditioned, if there be 
any other self-centered, self-contained being, en- 
dowed with attributes and energies of its own? 
We reply: God is a spirit, divine in nature or 
essence, and neither bulk nor number nor time 
nor space sustains any relation to him whatever. 
God is no part of the universe he created; as the 
only divinity, his realm is all his own. What he 
was before creation he is now. The energies dis- 
played by the vast physical world help us to our 



INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. 123 



most elevated conceptions of the infinite energy 
of the Creator of all things. In the act of invest- 
ing beings with life and things with energy, he 
parted with none of his own. 

Had the skeptic been less general in his on- 
slaught upon nature, had he specified more fully 
particular imperfections and the causes thereof, 
and had he suggested the remedies for these de- 
fects, we should find ourselves in a better position 
to render him assistance. Have we a kind of 
matter which he regards as superfluous, or can he 
conceive of a kind we have not which should have 
been created? The accusing critic of nature 
should be more specific in his charges. An intel- 
lect of sufficient strength to grasp the universe, 
would probably perceive that each atom stands 
related to every other atom — as n'eighbor to neigh- 
bor — and that not one could be destroyed without 
disturbing the whole and leaving it imperfect. 

The Atheist, practically, first becomes a Panthe- 
ist — identifies God and nature as one — then mis- 
reads nature, and on the basis of his misappre- 
hensions of its contents and laws, proceeds to read 
God out of it. But what does all this signify but 
ill-tempered, carping criticism? As sober argu- 
ment, intended to adjust the affairs of one's eter- 
nity, it is unworthy of man. It will be well for 
us to become familiar with all the methods 
adopted by skeptics to subvert the truth, as the 
variety of shifts they make weakens their cause. 

We may still further expect, if a querulous 



124 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



disposition leads to a savage assault upon the 
order and wisdom of nature for the purpose of 
eliminating from the mind all ideas of a creator 
and governor, that the Bible will fare no better 
at the hands of the skeptic. In the absence of 
candor, truth is likely to be greatly disfigured, if 
not driven from the arena. Probably the docu- 
ment was never written whose meaning the genius 
of man could not pervert. Lawyers have bent 
and twisted the American Constitution into a 
thousand shapes, and grave judges are not always 
agreed in regard to its meaning. It is to be ex- 
pected that the man whose spite and spleen touch 
the heaven and the earth and the things under 
the earth, for the purpose of banishing their Cre- 
ator, will reserve especially the hot shafts of his 
ridicule for the lawgiver and the prophet who 
would retain his presence. It is alleged that 
Moses, in his writings, made "mistakes;" and, 
also, that God, in his works, exhibited the char- 
acter of an " infinite fiend." If this judge of God 
and man made a mistake in regard to the one, is 
his opinion to be trusted in regard to the other? 



INTER PE TA TION NOT ATHEISTIC. 125 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NATURE'S INTERPRETATION OF ITSELF IS NOT 
ATHEISTIC. 

The seasons came and went, and went and came, 
To teach men gratitude; and, as they passed, 
Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else 
Had stolen unheeded by; the gentle flowers 
Retired, and, stooping o'er the wilderness, 
Talked of humility and peace and love; 
The dews came down unseen at eventide, 
And silently their bounties shed, to teach 
Mankind unostentatious charity. — Pou,OK. 

§ 1. The Skeptic avoids discussing the Consti- 
tution of Nature. 

Atheism is based on the conclusion that the 
imperfections of the world demonstrate that its 
Creator — if the existence of a Creator be admitted — 
must be lacking in wisdom or power, or that he 
is an "infinite fiend." To make good this terri- 
ble charge, nature should have been subjected 
to the most comprehensive examination, and a 
possible world, embracing more wisdom and be- 
nevolence than this, pointed out to us. In all our 
reading of skeptical works we have met with but 
two suggestions even looking in this direction, and 
these could be carried into effect only in the ab- 
sence of all law. 

Why do skeptics thus so slightly pass by the 



126 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



most essential features of their case, and leave 
their main charge without support? It is not 
enough to refer to a few scattered, isolated facts, 
that may have an ungenerous look; but, as phi- 
losophers, they should have instituted a thorough 
examination of the constitution of nature, and 
favored us with the proof it affords that, in the 
absence of fundamental law, its different parts 
have been thrown together in a hap-hazard way. 
As the question is left, one is compelled to believe 
that, for some occult reason, which perhaps it is 
cruel to inquire into, the structure and laws of 
nature were not considered in this connection. 
We must say, however, that this was a grievous 
oversight. Called to the witness-stand, nature, 
under the most thorough cross-examination, should 
have been allowed to testify for herself, as her 
evidence in this court is the best the case affords. 

The Bible does not attempt to prove the exist- 
ence of God; it accepts, as conclusive, the evi- 
dence afforded by nature ; and if the testimony 
derived from this source is in favor of Atheism, 
its voice must be considered as decisive. We de- 
mand, then, that nature, as the principal witness 
in the case, be called back, and that its testimony 
be heard. We are aware that it will be difficult 
to hold Mr. Ingersoll up to this line of investiga- 
tion, as his deeply human feelings incline him to 
dwell upon the "mistakes of Moses," and these act 
as a red flag to excite his anger and start the flow 
of his rhetoric. 



INTER PRE TA TION NOT A THE I STIC. 1 2 7 



§ 2. Naturk affords Proof that its Structure; 
is Constitutional. 

The skeptic, by persistently refusing to see, in 
the government of the universe, any agency or law 
or energy but the personal, arbitrary power of 
God, actually blinds his mind to the truth in the 
case. We are again reminded that he occupies 
the stand-point of an ancient Pagan, but devoid 
of the Pagan's faith. He has no place or work 
for God, except that of ruling the world as a 
player handles his men upon a chess-board. Un- 
less he can see God in such position and with 
such work in hand, he is not able to see any. 

But nature, testifying for herself, declares with 
the greatest emphasis that at base she is, in 
every substance, unchangeably fixed ; and that in 
her respective departments, by the manipulation 
of different elements, she is capable of endless 
modifications. From the beginning, the different 
kinds of matter, and of life and mind and spirit, 
have been fundamentally exactly what they are 
now; and the eternal future will fail to witness 
any change in the essence of any substance. This 
happy combination of permanence and change 
carries us into the realm of the infinite, both of 
wisdom and beneficence. Without this basal ele- 
ment of fixity, the world could never have emerged 
from chaos and night. Creation implies not only 
a Creator, but that he created something, created 
it in some way, gave it a certain character, and 



128 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



such as we see before us is the character of the 
world under consideration. 

§ 3. Any Collision of Parts with the Fixed El- 
ements of the Constitution of Nature 
causes Confusion and Trouble. 

The sciences of arithmetic and geometry are 
based upon the laws of the measurement of time 
and space, and the least violation of their laws — 
as that two and two make five — carries havoc 
into the conclusion. Is it cruel, or wise and be- 
neficent, that this should be so? In the absence 
of the unchangeable law of numbers, could these 
sciences exist? How could nature, in this re- 
spect, be changed for the better, since as it is it 
expresses the exact truth and reality of things? 
Does not a positive fault lie at the door of the 
party who committed the blunder? Does not the 
voice of nature, as an oracle in htm, so declare? 
But the Atheist's notion seems to be that if there 
were a God he would, in the spirit of benevo- 
lence, in some way interfere with these figures, 
and control the outcome of man's carelessness. 

There is, as a part of nature, a system of law 
known as mechanics, and its imperious demands 
can not be violated with impunity. In building 
a machine, or a house, or a bridge, any departure 
from the laws of this realm are sure to result in 
the weakness, if not in the failure, of the struc- 
ture. In the stability and imperious character of 
these laws we may see two things : they express 



INTER PRE TA TION NOT A THE I STIC. 1 29 

• 

the reality and fitness of things, and also reflect 
the unchangeable character and authority of God. 
In case a railway bridge is built in violation of 
mechanical law, and it tumbles into a gulf as a 
train is passing over it, maiming and killing 
divers persons, whose is the fault? Such was 
the constitution of nature that the bridge could 
have been strongly built and the calamity avoided. 
What does this fact indicate? In the constitution 
of nature, in all its departments, from the lowest 
to the highest, it appears that right is something 
so great and so good that observing it is attended 
by the best possible results, and that a violation 
of the right is followed by consequences corre- 
spondingly terrible. As a palpable fact of nature, 
it pours a flood of light upon the nature and scope 
of its constitution. Could an infinitely wise Being, 
if actuated by the spirit of beneficence, have given 
to nature in these respects, for the benefit of in- 
telligent creatures, a different constitution? 

§ 4. Atheism can exist only in the Absence 
of Law and Government. 

But the Atheist will demand that, if there be 
a God, he should interfere at the right moment, 
and avert the consequences of the blunders of his 
children. As he does not do this, but allows the 
consequences of the violation of mathematical, 
mechanical, physical, and moral law to follow, 
though the results are often dreadful in the ex- 
treme, nature affords no evidence of the existence 



1 30 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

of God as moral governor of the world. Should he, 
at the right moment, interfere and arrest the 
falling scaffold of a building on which mechanics 
were at work, and let it softly down to the 
ground, then retire, such interference would afford 
the skeptic the kind of proof he desires that a 
God exists. His conceptions of God and the 
world are so fully those of a Pagan, that the idea 
of government by law — law that is constant and 
universal in its application — seems never to have 
entered into his mind. 

Should God interfere with the administration 
of law as the freaks of his subjects might dictate, 
how would it be possible for us ever to under- 
stand the constitution of nature so as to conform 
our conduct to it? In the absence of uniformity 
in the affairs of the world, its thoughtful inhab- 
itants would never know what to depend upon. 
Could more conclusive evidence be produced that 
the world was without a governor than such ir- 
regularity and uncertainty would furnish? How, 
then, can we account for the stability of the con- 
stitution of nature, the limitless sweep it takes, 
and the infinite variety it produces, only on the 
hypothesis that it is under the sway of an al- 
mighty moral governor? 

Therefore, in the absence of all affirmative 
positive truth, Atheism is without a foundation 
of its own, and the whole weight of the testi- 
mony of nature is against its demands. The 
world as he would have it would be scarcely hab- 



INTERPRETATION NOT ATHEISTIC. 131 

itable by either man or beast. As environments 
often widely differ, the conditions of life in one 
case would be death in another. Nature, in pro- 
claiming herself something stable, orderly, and 
uniform, abolishes Atheism with its chaos, and 
proclaims a Maker of infinite perfections. A God 
who exists as a convenience to correct mathemat- 
ical blunders, strengthen badly built bridges, and 
modify on occasion all the laws of nature, is not 
the being Christians worship. 

We can discover in some minds a mental pe- 
culiarity which would tend to this conception of 
God and nature. Some people are inclined to look 
at all things in the concrete, and abstract princi- 
ples make but the slightest impression upon 
them. The little such people can see of nature 
with their eyes in broad daylight is real ; but the 
idea of an underlying constitution, manifesting its 
provisions in law, is quite another and a very hazy 
thing. Unless they can see a personal gov- 
ernment, they can not see any. This defect of 
intellect is largely at the root of Ingersoll's 
Atheism. 

§ 5. In the Constitution of Nature, Necessary 
Facts occupy a Conspicuous Place. 

Time and space must be infinite ; a circle and 
a square can not possess a like figure ; swift must 
be the antithesis of slow, long of short ; and it is 
absurd to suppose that these diversities of exist- 
ence can be otherwise. Could we see the whole 



132 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



universe as it is, forming a correct idea of the 
essence of every substance, we should probably 
discover that every atom of every kind of matter 
and every form of life, from the beginning till 
now, had acted according to the law of necessity. 
It will be noticed and remembered that we limit 
the action of the law of the inevitable to the ma- 
terial and vital worlds. Further on, and in another 
connection, we shall have much more to say on 
the subject. 

Broad views of the universe will clearly recog- 
nize these facts, accept the universe we have as an 
inevitable result of law, and, as far as we can 
judge, an expression of infinite wisdom, power, 
and goodness. Let us suppose the law of neces- 
sity were repealed, and that this were liable to 
become that; long to become short; a circle to 
become a square ; gold, iron ; a diamond, a pebble ; 
and that this kind of uncertainty everywhere pre- 
vailed, — would not earth become a Babel, inca- 
pable of habitation ? But if the world is right as 
it is, and I carelessly mistake a circle for a square, 
a wrong for a right, an error for a truth, the con- 
sequences of my blunders, it matters not how ter- 
rible they may be, I must endure ; and I can not 
complain, for the fault is my own. We can 
not too deeply feel the necessity of conforming 
to nature ; as nature, being right, will not vary an 
iota to conform to us. 

The goodness as well as the greatness of na- 
ture are seen in the fact that it is always true 



INTERPRETA T10N NOT ATHEISTIC. 133 



to itself, regardless of the consequences of col- 
lision with it. A misplaced six-penny nail once 
so influenced a mariner's compass that an ocean 
steamer was turned out of its proper course some 
hundreds of miles, and came near being dashed to 
pieces upon an unknown rocky coast. Had it 
been wrecked, and all on board perished, whose 
had been the fault? Which reflects the greater 
credit upon the Infinite One, and which is of the 
greater practical value to man, — a world that can be 
known and depended upon with absolute precision, 
or a world of "luck and chance?" 

Touching this point, the argument of the in- 
fidel would take this form : That such dangers 
might not arise, if a God exist, he should change 
the constitution of nature so far as iron and the 
magnet are concerned, and adapt them to that 
voyage, and then change them back again ; or it 
might do in some way to interfere with either the 
nail or the compass, or pilot and guide the vessel di- 
rectly into the intended harbor ; but as nature is 
not modified to fit or to counteract a blunder, there- 
fore it is clear that there is no God. 

The conceded fact that the good often perish 
with the vile, shocks the maudlin sensibilities of 
the Atheist beyond endurance. It is here that 
Colonel Ingersoll finds his strongest argument. 
But, as usual, he reasons as a Pagan. God may be 
infinitely compassionate, and yet refuse, because 
it would be cruel, to sacrifice the constitution 
of nature to fit some special emergency. The 



134 



A NT AO MY OF ATHEISM. 



momentary good done would be no compensation 
for the evil. The pestilence, the earthquake, winds 
and waves, fire and flood, things of necessity, do 
not possess the moral element, and they have no 
more respect for character than they have for per- 
sons. If this world were so that when a vessel 
in mid-ocean were smitten by a hurricane, its Gov- 
ernor would make of it a sort of judgment-day, 
separate the "good" on board from the "vile," 
his " adorers from his enemies," and in a chariot 
carry them away to some place of safety, then the 
skeptic would be a believer. On the battle-field 
he would probably demand that an angel be sent 
to attend and guard all the good against bursting 
shell and flying bullets. All such conceptions 
of the government of the world are in harmony 
with the mythology of all nations, but they have 
no place whatever in the religion of either nature 
or the Bible. 

§ 6. The Excellency of the Constitution of 
Nature is seen in the Fact that Obe- 
dience TO ITS IyAWS SECURES THE HIGHEST 
Good. 

Man stands related to physical, organic, men- 
tal, and spiritual law, and nothing higher and 
better can he attain unto in this life than con- 
formity thereto. He is also related to an external 
world as his environments, and this also rests on 
a basis of law. These various relationships are 
complex in the extreme ; and yet, when all are 



INTERPRETATION NOT ATHEISTIC. 135 



properly adjusted, there is perfect harmony. Man 
has an eye for the light, an ear for sounds, a taste 
for flavors, a sense for odors, a finger for touch, 
a stomach for bread, lungs for the air, a mind for 
truth, a conscience for duty ; and thus his relations 
are so numerous and intimate that he, in an im- 
portant sense, is a counterpart of the world he 
lives in. The one is correlated to the other, 
and both are embraced in the constitution of 
nature. 

On the supposition that a God exists as Cre- 
ator and Governor of the world, does not the dis- 
position thus made of man reflect the highest 
credit upon his wisdom and beneficence ? Another 
step must be taken in this argument before its 
full force can be seen ; but at this stage it is clear 
that if obedience to law — the laws of his being 
and the laws of nature — secure to man his high- 
est possible good, then this world should not he 
called the work of an "infinite fiend." 

Law serves as the connecting link between 
God and man ; in its highest realm it is the spir- 
itual atmosphere in which both live and have their 
being ; and heaven can be nothing more than the 
perfection of that relation. In his relation to man, 
God dwells in the law of love, and, for all we 
know to the contrary, it may be quite as agree- 
able to him to dwell also in the law of gravita- 
tion, affinity, understanding, and every other law 
of the universe. Were our spiritual vision clear 
enough we might be able to see that God's relet- 



136 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



tion to law foreshadowed the incarnation. In the 
light of these suggestions the multitude of enco- 
miums pronounced upon Law in the Psalms are 
made to signify much. Many expressions would 
not be out of place if applied to God himself. 
Government by law is the mode of the divine 
adminstration. 



TESTIMONY OF NA TURE. 137 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE TESTIMONY OF NATURE TO THE REIGN 
OF LAW. 

The laurel wreath the murderer rears, 
Blood-nursed and watered by the widow's tears, 
Seems not so foul, so tainted, and so dread, 
As the daily night-shade round the skeptic's head. 

— Unknown. 

§ i. God reveals Himself through Nature to 
His Creatures. 

As modern infidelity is largely the result of 
mistaken interpretations of the facts of nature, 
necessity constrains us to follow the skeptic into 
this field of inquiry, correct his mistakes, and ex- 
hibit the proofs of God's handiwork. It is cer- 
tainly his right to assail the citadel of religion at 
what he may regard as its most vulnerable point, 
and compel us to repair, if we can, any breaches 
he may be able to make in its walls. With the 
duty thus imposed upon us of reading a few pages 
of nature's volume, considered as a divine revela- 
tion, we find no fault, but rather confess our- 
selves pleased with the entertainment to which we 
are invited. 

Consider the spirit in which we should enter 
upon this investigation. From our stand-point we 
can not but regard the world as the first and oldest 
channel through which God revealed himself to 



T38 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



men and to all other intelligences. The heavens 
declare his "glory;" "his eternal power and god- 
head are seen in the things he has made;" and as 
we reverently turn over the leaves of this book, 
we may expect to sweep by a range of truth which 
embraces things adapted to the simplicity of a 
child, to mysteries no human mind can fathom. 
Go which way we may, but a few steps will be 
required to take us to the borders of the infinite; 
but this will not surprise us, as "his wisdom is 
unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." 

§ 2. The Substance of Nature is composed of 
Various Elements. 

Comparatively but few people are accustomed 
to the study of nature, and the terminology of 
the sciences is anything but inviting to people 
generally. Current infidelity demands that this 
obstacle be overcome, if we would not leave it 
undisturbed in its stronghold. In the little we 
shall be required to do, in tracing the marks of the 
Infinite One in nature, technical and abstruse 
terms, as far as possible, will be dispensed with, 
as we do not wish to teach science, but discover 
the reign of law in nature. 

By created nature we should distinguish: 

1. The earth, the planets, the sun and stars, 
and the whole material world with its forces 
and laws. 

2. The vital world, embracing everything that 
lives, whether vegetable, animal, or human. 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 



139 



3. Man, considered as an intellectual, moral, 
and religious being. 

4. The relations which subsist among the 
different departments of the universe should re- 
ceive special attention. 

As many Atheists have made these departments 
of nature a study, and in many respects failed to 
grasp the lessons they teach, but rather have per- 
verted their meaning, it becomes our duty to trav- 
erse the same ground again, and as far as possible 
secure the true interpretation. 

Nature, considered as a whole, is a unit, yet 
the above named separate and distinct realms must 
be noted. Bach has a character of its own ; the 
one never invades the domain of another; and yet 
each is correlated to some other. Remove the 
world of matter from biology — also from meta- 
physics, as should be done — and examine it solely 
as matter, having properties and forces exclusively 
its own, and it can, in part, be understood. When 
blended, as is often done, instead of related to other 
spheres, it proves to be a disturbing element, and 
creates such wide-spread confusion that nothing 
in regard to it can be distinctly comprehended. 
Often vitality is ascribed to matter, and all sorts 
of philosophers talk about " living" or "live" 
matter. Not an atom of either living or dead 
matter ever existed. It is not proper to say that 
anything is dead which was not once alive. Life 
and death are terms which should never in any 
way be applied to matter — unless under poetic 



140 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



license. The vital world, also, should be exam- 
ined solely in the light of its phenomena ; but this 
can not be done except everything not vital be 
excluded from the investigation. Only in separa- 
tion from everything else can we see the vital or 
organic world as it is. 

The crowning glory of created nature is the 
human mind — the man proper. The relation these 
separate departments of nature sustain to each 
other is a very important but a separate question. 
A fundamental principle in regard to them is, 
they never cross the lines which separate them 
from each other, nor do they in any way run into 
each other. Each remains what the Creator made 
it and where he put it. 

Here, again, we run afoul of the utterly falla- 
cious principle which lies at the base of the pop- 
ular work known as " Natural Law in the Spiritual 
World." Certainly, law prevails in the spiritual 
as in the natural world, but it is not the same law, 
unless the substance of the two worlds is alike — 
both matter or both spirit. Every law is an ex- 
pression of the nature of that which is governed. 
Matter has its own laws, and it knows no other; 
life has its laws, and only within the limits of 
vitality can they act; mind has its laws, and they 
act only in the realm of thought, will, and feeling ; 
and the laws of the spiritual world, as such, arise 
from the nature of spiritual beings. God and his 
acts embrace the supernatural — God and nature 
the universe. 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 



141 



We hold that these things are so because the 
Creator saw that it was wise so to make them; 
and that they might remain as created, he or- 
dained that out of the nature of each thing, from 
the atom to the archangel, should arise laws ex- 
pressive of its nature, and by which it should be 
governed. An Intelligence, subject to moral law 
in all matters of right and wrong, is placed under 
the law of necessity to determine WHAT his con- 
duct shall be, as in selecting the seed he will sow 
he also decides what the harvest shall be. 

§ 3. The Constitution of Nature is an Ex- 
pression of the Divine Wiix. 

Such is the nature of the sun and of the at- 
mosphere, and of their relation to each other and 
to the configuration of the globe, that their com- 
bined influence on occasion produces the tornado 
and the flood. These untoward events are mere 
incidents, and it is the will of God that they take 
place rather than that the constitution of nature 
be changed, for that could not be changed except 
for the worse. The narrow and shallow concep- 
tion of the skeptic regards every little local 
trouble as an expression of divine wrath, if the 
existence of a God be admitted. 

A little consideration of nature as under law 
will give us quite a different conception of gov- 
ernment, and dissipate these crude notions. Tak- 
ing chemistry as our guide, we find in the phys- 
ical world some seventy different kinds of matter 



142 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



whose entity and individuality are found in incon- 
ceivably small atoms — atoms which chemists think 
are less than the millionth of an inch in diameter. 
Bach atom of a kind is an exact duplicate of ev- 
ery other atom of that kind, and in essence ut- 
terly unlike every atom of every other kind. Bach 
atom has properties of its own as an individual 
thing, and is a center of force. Among different 
atoms play the forces of attraction and repulsion, 
resulting in the formation of innumerable com- 
pounds of an indefinite number of kinds, and the 
force of gravitation is common to all atoms and 
masses of matter. 

So far as we can detect among these atoms of 
matter the reign of law, we shall grasp the wis- 
dom and behold the will of God; and we may 
expect that the investigation at every step will 
conduct us through realms of the infinitely mys- 
terious. 

In a drop of water there are probably not less 
than ten millions of molecules — the smallest par- 
ticle of water that can exist — and each molecule is 
composed of one atom of oxygen and two atoms 
of hydrogen. All the waters of the globe, whether 
in the form of a liquid, or vapor, or ice, are formed 
of these two substances. It is not claimed that 
all water has been examined, but a violation of 
the above law was never known. What but the 
wisdom and power and goodness of the Infinite 
One could have given us the waters of the globe 
by placing under the domain of law atoms of 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 



143 



matter so small that no instrument has been able 
to discover them, and never made the mistake of 
an atom? 

§4. Benevolence occupies a Conspicuous Place 
in the Divine Plan. 

A view of the practical results of the reign of 
law indicates wisdom and benevolence. As the 
constituent elements of water are incapable of 
change, it is the same everywhere, is now what 
it has ever been, and it must ever remain the 
same thing. We trust the stability of water more 
fully than we do Gibraltar's rocks. We have no 
more fears that a drop of it will be changed into 
a pebble or sulphuric acid than we have that the 
sun will cease to shine. If caprice and change 
everywhere prevailed, what would be the effects 
upon man's well-being and upon every depart- 
ment of the world? What if, in sailing around 
the globe, the gallant ship should find itself in 
mid ocean caught fast in the clamps of solid 
granite rock, or, afloat on billows of oil, driven for- 
ward by cyclones of flame ! Or would the Athe- 
ist, regarding the world as a thing of chance, if a 
thirsty traveler away in the desert, dare to drink 
from a bubbling spring for fear that in his 
stomach the water might turn to an alkali or to 
muriatic acid? Or would it not be nice for the 
clouds occasionally to pour down inky torrents, 
or, in defiance of all prohibitory laws, deluge the 
earth with spirituous liquors ? 



144 



A A ATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



Both Scripture and geology teach us that there 
was a time when the solar system was in a state 
of chaos — " fire-mist," if you please — a nebulous 
cloud, occupying as much space as is now in- 
cluded within the orbit of Neptune. And what 
has wrought the change adapting it to the wants 
and convenience and comfort of man? If you 
say law, then you must hold that associated with 
law there was ' infinite intelligence, beneficence, 
and design. 

If instead of law and order everywhere, the 
Atheist could designate this and that as positive 
entitative evils, not simply the absence of some 
specific good, and then could associate these evils 
with chance events in a happen-so world, he 
might to some purpose harp upon such confusion, 
and let flow the tide of his rhetoric to prove that 
the world is without a moral Governor. But the 
world he describes is largely the creation of his 
imagination, and has not the most remote con- 
nection with real nature. 

§5. The Designs of Infinite Wisdom may be 
seen in the Reign of I^aw. 

Let us glance again at government by law. 
And we select a particle of sugar as our instructor. 
The molecule of sugar is a very complex vital 
product. Matter, even with the help of the lab- 
oratory of the chemist, has never been able to 
produce it. If derived from the juice of the cane 
the molecule is composed of twelve atoms of 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 145 



carbon (the stuff known as coal), twenty-two atoms 
of hydrogen, and eleven of oxygen — in all forty- 
five atoms; and yet the molecule of sugar is so 
small that it can not be seen even with the micro- 
scope. In a drop of sugar-cane water there are prob- 
ably not less than a million particles of this sugar. 
Sugar from the juice of the grape differs from 
cane, in that the molecules contain twenty-four 
atoms of hydrogen — in all forty-seven atoms. 
Sugar is made by cane, grape, maple, beet, and 
many other vegetable substances. It always comes 
from the tree, root, or fruit, ready made, and afloat 
in a liquid which must be evaporated to secure it. 

Look, now, at the infinitely delicate reign of 
law. A drop of water from the maple-tree con- 
tains probably not less than fifty thousand mole- 
cules of perfectly formed sugar, formed by the 
power of the vital part of the tree — a feat the 
genius of man can not perform, nor can he any 
more conceive how it can be done than he can 
conceive of divinity. The atoms, so small that 
two thousand of them could not be seen if put 
together in a mass, must all be sorted out and 
counted or weighed; for each molecule must have 
its complement of each kind of matter, and no 
more. In all the world, and through all the ages, 
there must not be the mistake of an atom. Man 
can no more count or weigh these atoms, when 
isolated, than he can count or weigh the stars in 
the firmament; but the cane-plant always com- 
bines the forty-five elements necessary to produce 

13 



146 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



cane-sugar, and probably it never made a mistake. 
Grape produces a different kind of sugar, and to 
do this it puts into the molecule two additional 
atoms of hydrogen — no more, no less — and never 
makes a mistake. Here is a work, regularly per- 
formed before our eyes, which as fully demands 
the wisdom and the power of God as the creation 
of the sun. We say it is the work of law; 
but what can law be in this connection but the 
constitution the Creator gave to nature as a part 
of creation, and as an expression of his power and 
wisdom? The cane and maple and grape mole- 
cules of sugar may not be conscious, but did not 
conscious thought make them what they are? How 
could wisdom and power and benevolence make 
themselves more conspicuous? 

§ 6. The Operation of a Law of Nature has 
been Specially Modified for the General 
Good. 

So far as our knowledge goes, all bodies, with 
but one exception, are diminished in size by a 
lowering of their temperature and enlarged by 
raising it. Iron, stone, wood, the human body, 
etc., are larger and longer when warm than when 
cold. This law seems to pervade all nature till 
we come to the formation of ice, and then it is 
practically reversed. A cubic inch or foot of ice 
is no heavier than it was in a liquid state, but it 
is larger and demands more space. What are the 
practical consequences of this strange phenome- 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 



H7 



non? Instead of sinking to the bottom of the 
lake, pond, or river, as it forms, and rapidly ac- 
cumulating there during a long cold winter in a 
high latitude, it remains on the surface and serves 
as a protection to the main body of water from 
the cold. We seem to have here a special ar- 
rangement to prevent the destruction of the globe 
by the formation upon its surface of an immense 
ice sheet; for the overflowing waters would fill the 
basins, river-channels, and lake-beds, flooding the 
country and forming an ice-cap thousands of feet 
in thickness, such as now covers the most of Green- 
land. Engaged with such an antagonist, our sum- 
mer suns would be compelled, in utter defeat, to 
withdraw the lines of vegetation further and fur- 
ther south. Could it be shown that there was ever 
a time when a cubic inch of ice was heavier than 
its bulk of water, that simple fact would afford a 
full explanation of the ice-age — those winters of 
unknown length which, at different periods, held 
sway from the North Pole to the Equator. 

But as the constitution of nature must not be 
changed, it became necessary for the Creator to 
resort to a certain expedient to accomplish this 
result. We have no doubt that a single molecule 
of ice is smaller than the same molecule would be 
as water; but, in freezing, the molecule of water 
freezes, not always to another molecule of water, 
but to the atmosphere with which it comes into con- 
tact, and this, being lighter than water, buoys it 
up and keeps it afloat on the surface. 



148 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

As a practical reversal of a law of nature has 
made room for hundreds of millions of people, 
even if it has not made the earth habitable by both 
man, beast, birds, and fishes, are we not justified 
in seeing in it a token of beneficence? Had these 
rays of truth from the volume of nature ever pen- 
etrated the mind of Colonel Ingersoll, would he 
have written it that, if there be a God, he must be 
an " infinite fiend?" 

§7. The Plan devised for furnishing the 
Earth with a Suitable Atmosphere indi- 
cates Design and Benevolence. 

Our air is composed of a mixture of nitrogen 
and oxygen, a little more than three-fifths being 
nitrogen. In pure nitrogen man could not live 
more than one second of time; in pure oxygen he 
might live a half minute; in a union of nitrogen 
and oxygen — nitric acid — he could not live at all. 
What was the Creator's device, amidst all the 
changes the air undergoes in the course of a year 
or of ages, to preserve the relation of these ele- 
ments and the stability of the air? In the first 
place, he rendered a union of the atoms impossible, 
by giving to each such a nature that they could 
not unite, thus practically destroying both and 
forming a deadly acid in their stead. And then 
it was important that the proportion of the two 
elements be preserved; how was this done? 

In the first place, nitrogen, the chief element 
of the air, has such a peculiar nature that it has 



TESTIMONY OF NATURE. 149 

no affinity for any other kind of matter. It is the 
bachelor kind, whose delight is to stand away 
from everything else, isolated and alone. Being 
thus utterly discarded by other substances we rind 
it afloat on the surface of the earth. As a gaseous 
band it surrounds our globe, having a thickness 
of at least fifty miles. Oxygen, constituting about 
half the globe, is of such a nature that it can be 
made to unite with all other kinds of matter ex- 
cept fluorine. This substance is an outlandish 
flirt, and repulses but one suitor. It is conse- 
quently everywhere, forming a part of everything, 
and what we have, as a part of the air, is the sur- 
plus left after everything else was supplied. Then 
the air we breathe is the result of the operation of 
two contrary laws of nature — attraction and repul- 
sion. Repulsion gives us nitrogen, and attraction 
takes from us all the oxygen we do not need. 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE MISERIES OF CRIME PROCLAIM A MORAL GOV- 
ERNOR OF THE WORLD. 

God, to keep unmarred 
Freedom's fair form, lets Evil's frightful hosts 
Run riot wildly in the universe. — Schiij^r. 

§ i. it is conceded that this is a degenerate 
World. 

The ad captandum argument that this world 
of sin and misery can not be the product of a 
Creator and Governor who is infinitely powerful, 
wise, and good, is having great weight with igno- 
rant people and with superficial thinkers. But 
let us, in the light of the constitution of nature, 
look the facts fully in the face, and see what can 
be learned from them. 

The observed facts of human life accord with 
the Scripture declaration that "the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth together in pain and in 
the great cities of the world may be found mill- 
ions of men and women whose ignorance, brutal- 
ity, and crimes make them a scourge to society ; 
and they may be taken as samples of untold mill- 
ions more who live, and have lived in the past, 
in different parts of the world. Can such crea- 
tures lift their eyes to heaven and say, "Thou 



THE MISERIES OF CRIME. ' 151 

madest me to be thus?" If not, let us consider 
the question, How came these human beings to 
be in the degraded and miserable condition in 
which we find them? We have already been 
compelled to recognize, as a part of the moral 
constitution under which we live, physical, social, 
intellectual, and spiritual law. We have found 
that law has been wrought into the very nature 
of things, and it can not be denied that conform- 
ity or obedience to moral law is attended by good 
results ; and, if so, then it is inevitable that the vi- 
olation of law, or antagonism to it, will be at- 
tended by evil results. 

§2. It is Desirable, Fit, and Becoming that 
Misery should be the Attendant upon 
Crime. 

Is not the thought a frightful one that it were 
even possible for the outcome of one life of crime 
and another of virtue to be the same? Were that 
the aspect of the world — of individuals, the fam- 
ily, society, and nations — palpable to everybody, 
could not the fact be urged with overwhelming 
effect as proof that the world was without a moral 
governor? Would it not tend to abolish, in the- 
ory as well as practice, all distinctions between 
virtue and vice? It will not be denied that obe- 
dience to physical law tends to the promotion of 
health and comfort, and the principle involved 
makes it inevitable — yes, an absolute necessity — 
that the violation of physical law should damage 



1 52 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

.the body and produce misery. If I thrust my 
hand into the fire kindled in the stove, and hold 
it there till it is burned to a crisp, the fault is 
mine, and I mtist, as I deserve, suffer the conse- 
quences. 

In every community social and moral laws are 
more or less violated ; and in the degrading results 
have the sufferers any ground for complaint? If, 
in an examination of the slums of our great cities, 
it should be found that the idle, the profligate, 
the ignorant, the beastly, the drunken, and the 
vile of every description were as prosperous and 
happy as the same number of people in another 
part of the city, whose lives were directly the op- 
posite, would not the lesson taught by such con- 
trary facts, having the same outcome, tend to 
abolish moral distinctions, and to establish the 
rankest Atheism? But the records of humanity 
do not furnish such a phenomenon. Instances 
have been known of murderers spending the 
night before the day of their execution in levity, 
apparently unconcerned in regard to their fate; 
but it was apparent that, even though they were 
hardened wretches, they were acting a disgraceful 
part. Suited to such a character and to such an 
occasion is a sense of shame and degradation and 
fear and remorse. It is only by the presence of 
such elements of contrition and sorrow that the 
man can redeem himself in any measure from 
Satanic characteristics. In tears and grief there 
may be a beam of hope. 



THE MISERIES OF CRIME. 153 



§3. As a Part of the Structure of the Uni- 
verse, the Consequences of Virtue and 
Vice are Matters of Necessity. 

Man has the power to decide if hat his conduct 
shall be. The consequences after the act is per- 
formed are placed beyond his control. On these 
subjects there is a written law which gives him 
all the information he needs for the regulation of 
his life.' But more than this, the consequences 
of virtue and vice are inwrought into the consti- 
tution of each man as an individual, and into 
nature as a whole, and thus the whole creation is 
made to carry on its very face the most positive 
proof that it is under moral government. 

It will not be denied that virtue, on the whole, 
is promotive of happiness, and that vice yields 
as its appropriate fruit dissatisfaction and misery. 
Both classes of results are necessary, and each 
is becoming its cause. A righteous man over- 
whelmed with remorse and agony, and a base 
criminal exalted with rapture, would indicate in- 
sanity; but reverse their emotional experience, 
and each would appear natural and at his best. 
Iu case some one should bring into my presence a 
group of twenty young men and women, one-half 
of whom had for ten years been eagerly engaged 
in the pursuit of learning and the practice of all 
the virtues of Christianity, and the other half had 
given no attention to mental improvement, but 
had abandoned themselves to debauchery, drunk- 



154 



A NATO M Y OF ATHEISM. 



enness, and all manner of crimes, is it not clear, 
from what we know of the effects of conduct upon 
both mind and body, that I would be able on the 
instant, from the appearance of the two classes, 
to distinguish the good from the bad? And could 
I say otherwise than that it is necessary and wise, 
and right and good, that each group should eat of 
the fruit of its own doings? If nature is based 
on law, and conformity to it results in securing to 
the one class the greatest possible blessings, then 
it is inevitable that calamities correspondingly 
great should follow or attend antagonism to the 
law. Nature, the Bible, history, and experience 
unite, and, as with one voice, teach this lesson; 
and I repeat that it is not more plainly written 
on the page of revelation than deeply inwrought 
into the very constitution of man, as a part of 
nature, that these things must and should be so. 
If doing one thing is necessarily, because de- 
manded by law, attended by blessed results as a 
consequence, how can the doing the opposite re- 
sult otherwise than in bad consequences of corre- 
sponding greatness? 

§4. Happiness and Misery, in their Complete- 
ness, are Self-supporting, and not Subject 
to the Control of Environments. 

Should a man, as a student of humanity, spend 
a couple of days in any of our great State's-pris- 
ons, he would carry away with him a sad heart, 
deeply feeling that he had left behind him a pitiable 



THE MISERIES OF CRIME. 155 



aggregation of shame and trouble, and he would 
raise the question in regard to the root and cause 
of this misery. This inquiry would carry him 
outside the prison walls to the time and place 
which each one signalized by crimes, and the 
man now in prison would appear as but the incar- 
nation of those crimes. What could be more 
befitting the character and conduct of these pris- 
oners than the misery each one represents ; and 
what would be the impression left upon the mind 
if, on leaving the prison, it was clearly manifest 
that the place was one of supreme felicity ? Could 
we resist the conviction that the terms virtue and 
vice were mere words, signifying nothing, and 
that the world is really without a moral governor ? 
As a straw, does not the prison indicate that this 
is a moral world ? 

But there need not necessarily be misery in 
a prison. If any form of wretchedness holds sway 
there, it is because wretched beings were put 
there. There is often found wretchedness and 
strife in a palace, and felicity in a prison or a 
cottage. Character, always and everywhere, holds 
imperial sway, whether good or bad. If the ac- 
cused, or even the condemned, can put in the 
plea of innocence, the conscience and character 
are preserved, and these serve as a sheet-anchor 
to the soul; but if conscious guilt is there, no 
environments, not even heaven itself, could bring a 
feeling of blessedness. Is not this fact an impor- 
tant element in a moral government? The mis- 



1 56 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

eries of vice, if vice exist, form a necessary part 
of a world which is under moral government. 

§ 5. Virtue in this World by no Means exempts 
its Possessor from its Calamities. 

The ancients, knowing nothing of the govern- 
ment of nature by law, were greatly puzzled by 
the fact that in some cases the righteous suffered, 
and the wicked, for a time, triumphed. The en- 
tire book of Job is given to a discussion of this 
problem. Taking a narrow view of nature, the 
psalmist said : " My feet were almost gone, my 
steps had well-nigh slipped, when I saw the pros- 
perity of the wicked." After going into the 
sanctuary, and taking a larger view of the world, 
he says : " So foolish was I, and ignorant ; I was as 
a beast before thee." What the good man suffers 
from the operation of the constitution and laws 
of nature, whether from earthquakes, cyclones, 
floods, or pestilences, are nothing compared to what 
he would suffer by the subversion of nature's 
laws. The value of government as a whole, and 
to the whole, is of such overwhelming impor- 
tance that the momentary interests of the indi- 
vidual, it matters not how wise or good he may 
be, are not allowed to interfere. The truth is, 
law is a unit, and the whole is affected by the 
action of any part. But as a whole, in the long 
run, the entire moral structure of humanity ac- 
cords with the facts that virtue should be crowned 
with blessedness, and that crime should be' over- 



THE MISERIES OF CRIME. 



157 



whelmed with misery. In view of the prevalence 
of wrong in this world, as between man and man, 
nation and nation, were this a happy world we 
should doubt the existence of a moral governor. 
The sight of misery resulting from crime is bad, 
but it would be more shocking still to see crime 
crowned with blessedness. Truth required that 
the fruit harmonize with the tree on which it 
grows. 

§ 6. Aivi, Things considered, Creation was a Dic- 
tate of Wisdom. 

We affirm that God's moral nature demanded 
a moral universe, let it cost what it might, as for 
its absence there could be no compensation. It 
was not possible for him to be content with a 
world of mere physical force and mechanical law. 
Before him were the possibilities of a universe in 
which intelligence, and love, and purity, and moral 
glory might reign as the chief factors for ever and 
ever. What if some shall refuse to live in har- 
mony with their Maker and with the universe, of 
which they form a part, shall the highest plane 
of existence and of blessedness be left empty, 
desolate, and barren, to accommodate supposed 
and possible criminals? As long implies short, 
as wisdom implies ignorance, so the possibility of 
holiness implies the possibility of sin. Both lines 
of character originate in the will. Felicity and 
heaven are therefore results — the results of char- 
acter — and if there is so much in a good character 



1 5 8 ANA TOM Y OF A THEISM. 

that the necessary outcome is heaven, then the 
absence of such character renders heaven impos- 
sible, and hell is but the absence of heaven. 

§ 7. The Ingress of Evil into the World. 

Psychology has made clear the truth that all 
human acts of a moral character originate in the 
will, and that its action is the key to both moral 
good and moral evil. Hence, we do not regard 
the presence of evil in this world as a mystery ; 
but its cause is a palpable fact, and as easily ex- 
plained as the existence of virtue. The will-origi- 
nated right act is a virtue, and the will-originated 
wrong act is a crime and an evil. 

As God is a lover of purity, he has made it 
possible for all persons to be virtuous; but it was 
not possible for him to put man on this high and 
awful pedestal of power to determine what his 
conduct shall be, without leaving with him also 
the power and possibility to disobey. A con- 
strained act may be practically good, but it can 
not possess a moral quality ; it drops down into 
the domain of mechanical law. The misery 
attendant upon a wicked act proclaims the reign 
of a good as well as holy God. 

§ 8. The Problem of Moral Evil. 

Paint the misery and the degradation of the 
world as he may, in proof that a God does not 
exist, the Atheist is not able to put his finger 
upon a positive evil in the universe. All known 



7 HE MISERIES OF CRIME. 159 

evil is simply the negation or absence of some 
positive good. There can be no death where there 
has not been life. Ignorance is the absence of 
knowledge. Vice is the failure of virtue. Sick- 
ness is the loss of health. As wealth departs, 
poverty comes in. Every real, every affirmative 
something in the world is a good. Each organ in 
the body, every power of the mind, is a positive 
good, capable of being used for a good purpose. 
The moral elements of the world — as intelligence, 
the power of the will to act rightly, love, con- 
science, friendship, sympathy, the sense of duty 
and responsibility — are all positive energies and 
of commanding influence. Where there is suffer- 
ing, degradation, and shame, some positive good 
has been rejected. Were we sure that the anal- 
ogy was real, we would say that evil is, in the 
moral world, what a vacuum is in the physical, 
and that nature abhors the one quite as much as 
the other. The moral vacuum is not necessary 
anywhere, for plenitude is a characteristic of the 
divine government. 

§ 9. The Creator's Verdict upon His Own Work 
is that It is "Good." 

What more could the Creator have done for 
the creature than place him in a world in which 
there was no positive evil, but which was full of 
positive good, and endow him with the capacity 
and power to perceive and appropriate the good? 
This is what was done; but the low, miserable 



1 60 ANA TO MY &F A THEISM. 

man has not been true to his Maker nor to him- 
self. He has violated his conscience ; he has slunk 
away from God into self; he has denied himself 
the good elements of society and of nature ; his grain 
has been made, not into bread, but intoxicants; 
and in turning away from the good provided for 
him, he has become the cause of the incoming 
and necessary evils of his lot. The murmuring 
skeptic fails to inform us how an intelligent moral 
world could have been made so as to exclude the 
possibility of evil; and look at it as we may, a 
change of nature for the better is inconceivable. 

In Genesis we read that, after the creation of 
man, God took a survey of all that he had made, 
and pronounced it "good." This was said in full 
view of all the possible facts involved in the case. 
Man, especially, was so placed as to give to his 
moral nature an opportunity for immediate devel- 
opment, as if that were to be the first care of his 
life. God knew that the creature was invested 
with power to refuse the good that was set before 
him, and that evil would be the result of disobe- 
dience; he knew further that the evil would be 
commensurate with the good rejected; yet, in the 
face of all the facts in the case, he pronounced 
everything "good." Had man stood out the day 
of his probation, and secured the blessings , of obe- 
dience, the result would have been supremely 
good; but the coming on him of wretchedness as 
a consequence of disobedience, was a necessity, 
and, for the universe at large, the highest good the 



THE MISERIES OF CRIME. 161 

case then admitted. Neither men nor angels should 
ever be permitted to look upon sin for a moment, 
only in connection with the horrors of shame, 
degradation, and misery. A hell of suffering, as 
the result of vice, is not so shocking a thought as 
the idea that the least felicity should be the out- 
come of guilt. 

§ 10. The Problem of Hell. 

The conception of hell is dreadful in the ex- 
treme; but any relief from it the mind can find, 
except one, only makes the matter worse. Preserve 
government by law, and at the same time destroy 
sin, and there need be no anxiety about future 
punishment. We hold that heaven is not a state 
of blessedness arbitrarily dispensed by the Infinite 
God, but that it is the natural and inevitable out- 
come of a positive character — a character spiritual 
and holy. In the absence of such character heaven 
is an impossibility, because there is no capacity 
to enjoy it. We make a poor exchange when we 
substitute a conception of heaven which is either 
the reward or the result or outcome of guilt — as 
Universalists do — for a hell which is the inevitable 
consequence of sin. 

It is some relief to know that a lost soul, in 
greatness, is not to be compared to a soul saved. 
Heaven is reached by a moral ascent in character, 
and hell by a descent. The "natural man" is 
wanting in "spirituality," the highest element of 
manhood. When spiritual, man is correlated to 

14 



162 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

God and to a spiritual world. The "natural man" 
can think and will and feel, but "he can not dis- 
cern spiritual things, for they are foolishness unto 
him." To supply this deficiency, Christ came and 
the Holy Spirit is given. The man who passes 
into the next world without being quickened into 
spiritual life, goes simply as a "natural man." 

Nero, as compared with Paul, was but the 
wreck of a man. Whilst the one will shine as a 
star of the first magnitude for ever and ever, the 
other will be known, because of his littleness, 
only as a monumental witness of the inevitable 
degradations of crime. There will be simply 
enough of his deteriorated soul to excite shame 
and contempt. His sufferings must be in propor- 
tion to his capacity, and this will be insignificant 
compared to the greatness of such men as Paul, 
Chrysostom, Luther, and Wesley. These were 
full-orbed men ; Nero was but little more than the 
foul blot of what he ought to have been. All car- 
ried with them, in their character, the basis of 
their eternity. The positive good — spirituality, 
faith, and love — secured to one class an eternity 
of blessedness; the absence of such good in the 
other, left in his nature a moral vacuum, with all 
its attendant wretchedness. The law of cause 
and effect operated in both cases, and fixed their 
destiny. Nero's wretchedness, whether consid- 
ered in its relation to time or eternity, as fully as 
the blessedness of Paul, proclaims the existence 
of the Moral Governor of the universe. 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 163 



CHAPTER XI. ' 

THE PROBLEM OF THE SUFFERING OF THE INNO- 
CENT. 

We have often wondered that grave divines should de- 
clare that there could be no natural evil or suffering, under 
the administration of God, except such as is a punishment 
for sin in the person upon whom it is inflicted, . . . lest 
they might strengthen the cause of Atheism. — BLEDSOE. 

§ i. A Glad Recognition of a Truth expressed 
by the Skeptic. 

Colonel Ingersoll recognizes a sensitive, vital 
world, composed of different orders of life ; and as 
suffering is connected with this part of the con- 
stitution of nature, it demands a moment's con- 
sideration. In this respect, as he is in the line of 
truth, we gladly give him our company for a little 
time. 

§ 2. The Problem of Animal Life. 

We wish, in this connection, to call special at- 
tention to a few crucial facts which characterize a 
vital world, and to the reign of law in regard to it. 
That the questions we have in view may be seen 
the more clearly, we must premise that matter 
was made to be matter, and that matter it must 
remain. Men of the highest genius, in different 
countries, under all conceivable circumstances, 



I 



164 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



have persistently labored to compel matter to give 
forth vital phenomena, but all in vain. Pasteur, 
the first scientist of France, pronounces the the- 
ory of spontaneous generation a chimera, and 
Tyndall says that, as the facts of the case now 
stand, " life can come only from antecedent life." 

It is found that all organic bodies of the high 
orders are composed of about fifteen different 
kinds of matter — the most common kinds of mat- 
ter — ordinary dirt. The human body, the bodies 
of cattle, birds, fishes, crocodiles, worms, insects, 
trees, plants, and flowers are all formed of this 
dirt ; and as matter can not in essence change, 
carbon and all the other substances are when in 
the body exactly what they were out of it. 

As matter was never known to manifest a 
trace of self-organizing capacity or tendency, the 
existence of an organic world demands that we 
postulate for it a cause that is not matter. For 
iron to come out of a mountain, purify itself, and 
then work itself into an engine, would be a small, 
clumsy performance compared to a self-constructed 
flower, or insect, or man. To affirm that God is 
the life of organic bodies — of worms, snakes, 
plants, cattle, and men — is at a single bound to 
plunge into Pantheism. Hence, necessity is laid 
upon us, if we would avoid Materialism on the 
one hand, and Pantheism on the other, to postu- 
late, as a part of creation, a substantive vital world 
as the cause and basis of organic bodies. 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 165 



§ 3. The Essence of Substance is in no Case 
Subject to Observation. 

If called upon to place on exhibition, for the 
inspection of man's senses, a vital entity, we con- 
fess our helplessness — we can not do it. But we 
promise that we will do it when we shall see on 
exhibition an entity of matter, or a mind. 

We hold, then, that vitality constitutes a world 
of its own, and that, as designed by its creator, 
some form of life is the constructor of each or- 
ganic body. All material properties and forces 
are wholly foreign to it. It is not in the least 
subject to the law of gravitation, affinity, attrac- 
tion, or repulsion. It does not possess the prop- 
erty of extension, nor sustain spatial relations. 
Solidity, impenetrability, and all other properties 
of matter, are unknown to life. We are quite as 
unable to form a conception of its essence as we 
are of the essence of matter, mind, or spirit. There 
is not a property or force which is common to 
both the material and vital worlds. It is a char- 
acteristic of all kinds of life known to us to work 
the few kinds of matter to which it stands spe- 
cially related into organic structures. All other 
kinds of matter are discarded by organisms, and 
some of them — as arsenic — if forced upon either 
animals or vegetables in sufficient quantities, de- 
stroy them. Pure matter can work itself into 
lumps, stones, liquids, gases, colloids, and crys- 



i66 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



tals ; but not the first approach can it make to- 
wards constructing an organism, either high or 
low. The dirt of the street can get up and work 
itself into the bones, sinews, muscles, nerves, 
veins, arteries, and blood of the human body, 
then take to living, then to thinking, as well as 
any kind of matter can work itself into the sim- 
plest insect or plant that exists on the globe. 

To obtain an intelligent reading and interpre- 
tation of nature, the above stated facts must be 
duly considered. The persistent but vain at- 
tempts which have been made to bring life out 
of matter have been a painful distortion of the 
realms of both life and matter. 

In a scientific and enlarged discussion of a 
vital world, we are unable to determine what 
views Colonel Ingersoll might entertain, as he 
refers only to the single fact that life devours life, 
which, in his judgment, discredits the idea that a 
God exists. He does, however, very properly 
speak of " varieties of life;" for it is impossible, 
on any other basis, to account for the different 
forms of organisms we meet with in the vegetable 
and animal worlds. We call special attention to 
this conception of a vital world as a part of the 
creation of a living God, because we take pleas- 
ure, whenever the skeptic speaks in the interest 
of truth, in giving him the fullest credit for it, and 
we trust that he will never swerve from the posi- 
tion taken. 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 167 



§ 4. The Problem of Animal Food. 

But in the vital world Colonel Ingersoll finds 
nothing to his liking — nothing that reflects credit 
upon a Creator. One order of creatures devours 
another, and then is devoured in turn. Horrible ! 
To understand his feelings, one ought to witness 
his agonizing contortions when a well-cooked 
piece of lobster or salmon is set before him. And 
then animals have "teeth" and " claws" and 
" hoofs," and they use them — so Tennyson sang. 
As such a world is not built in accordance with 
the pattern he would have suggested, he can 
see neither the marks of wisdom nor goodness 
in it. 

The order of creation is simple enough, and 
we doubt if any improvement can be suggested. 
Nothing exists for itself alone. The mineral king- 
dom gives itself for the support of the vegetable 
kingdom, the vegetable for the animal, and all for 
the benefit of man. The order of nature can be 
neither reversed nor modified. Minerals can not 
support animal life. Why this is so science, is 
unable to tell ; but the fact can not be contro- 
verted. Kingdom built on kingdom, one rising 
in the scale of being above another and contrib- 
uting to its support, seems to be the order of 
nature. 

But the shocking fact remains that animals 
live upon each other ; hence the theory of the 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



existence of an infinite God is inadmissible. 
Well, the fact can not be denied; and if the fact 
justifies the Atheism, then we must be silent. At 
last we have found an affirmative, positive, and 
undisputed fact or principle, or both, which lies 
at the basis of this form of unbelief. So much 
candor compels us to acknowledge, and we do it 
in the frankest manner possible. Animals do have 
teeth and claws, and they devour each other. That 
we may see this infidel objection in all its 
strength, let us carry it a little further. If valid, 
could we give the grass a voice it might com- 
plain that it were not the ox; but really, in nour- 
ishing and elevating the ox, the grass secures its 
own highest possible elevation. Were it not for 
this great, benevolent beast, the grass would be 
left alone, to be blasted and destroyed by the 
frosts or fires of autumn. 

The use of animals for food makes it pos- 
sible for a large district about the poles of the 
earth to swarm with life, which otherwise would 
be an icy or watery waste. It is a very preg- 
nant fact that the use of animal food advances, 
strengthens, and perfects animal organisms, and we 
can see no utility in the existence of a large portion 
of the fish in our rivers, lakes, and seas, the fowls 
of the air and beasts of the field, except as sources 
of nourishment, each for some higher order of 
creation. The innumerable forms of life which 
lie low down close upon the borders of the vege- 
table world, it would seem, were created especially 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 169 



for the benefit of higher orders of existence. We 
can not see that in their life, there is much of 
pleasure, or much of pain in their death, and yet 
in their existence and the use made of them we 
do see an uplift of the world. 

Had Colonel Ingersoll and his ancestors, for 
some twenty generations back, fed exclusively on 
potatoes and cabbage-heads, he would to-day have 
been more like a goose or a sheep, and far less 
like the lion that he is. He is indebted to the 
order of nature which he so soundly berates, for 
the strength and brilliancy he possesses. Ma- 
caulay says: "The potato-fed Irish soldier was 
never a match for the beef-eating English sol- 
dier." In the properly fed and developed man, 
mind and body are at their best, and the lion-and- 
lamb nature in peace lie down together. 

But right or wrong, these things are so, and 
most clearly can we see in the vital world the 
reign of law ; hence, as it was made, so must it 
remain. It is not always easy to decide where the 
vegetable world ends or begins, but with endless 
interior modifications it always remains the same 
at both extremities. Matter can be neither an- 
nihilated nor made to live ; vegetable life can 
be neither degraded below nor lifted above its 
own domain ; animal life must hold to the estate 
in which it was placed at creation ; and the infi- 
nite realm of thought must ever remain the home 
of the reasoning mind. In these respects, as the 
world was made, so it is. 

15 



170 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



But it may be objected that, as the scale of 
conscious being rises, its capacity to suffer in- 
creases. This we admit, but the whole case is 
not stated. A capacity for extreme suffering im- 
plies a capacity for extreme joy. A great good, 
when perverted, may become a great evil. It may 
be charged that the Creator has provided for the 
degradation attendant on the beastly drunkenness 
which we so much deplore. A poor artist even 
can depict the sorrows which wives and children 
very often endure because of strong drink ; and the 
conclusion is that wheat and rye and corn and 
barley might have been so created that such re- 
sults would have been impossible. This com- 
plaint is as absurd as it would be to find fault with 
God because long was not also short, or that a 
circle was not also a square. 

§ 5. Broad Views of the Universe dissipate 
Trivial Objections. 

But let us grant that in the vital world there 
is much which to a human understanding is inscru- 
table. What of it ? Exactly what we might ex^ 
pect in a universe so vast and complex as this. 
Where so much is known that is absolutely fault- 
less, is it not reasonable to conclude that, to a 
mind which could grasp the whole, and under- 
stand the relation of this whole to its parts, per- 
fection would characterize the universe ? The 
minds of such men as Newton and Kant were 
overwhelmed, not only with the vastness of crea- 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 171 

tion, but with the depth of its significance ; and, 
as much as ever in the past, the great intellects 
of the present day stand in awe at the profundity 
of meaning which, in glimpses, the universe 
reveals. The little we learn carries us, let the di- 
rection we take be what it may, upon the borders 
of the infinite and unknown. In reading the 
rhetorical invectives of Colonel Ingersoll, nothing 
impresses us so deeply and painfully as the nar- 
rowness and incoherence of his conceptions of 
the universe he pretends to interpret. M. Pas- 
teur is probably the first scientific mind of France, 
and it may be well to contrast the spirit in which 
he writes with the gushing diatribes of the Amer- 
ican infidel. In speaking of the philosophy of 
Comte, he says : 

"The great and manifest fault of this system 
is that it omits from the positive conception of 
the world the most important of positive ideas — 
that of the Infinite. Beyond the starry firmament 
what is there? More stars and skies. And be- 
yond these ? The human mind, impelled by an 
irresistible power, will never cease to ask itself, 
What lies beyond all? It is in vain to speak of 
space, of time, of size unlimited. These words 
surpass the human understanding. But he who 
proclaims the existence of the Infinite (and no 
man can escape from it), comprehends in that as- 
sertion more of the supernatural than there is in 
all the miracles of all religions ; for the concep- 
tion of the Infinite has the twofold character- 



172 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



istics that it is inevitable and incomprehensible. 
We prostrate ourselves before the thought which 
masters all the faculties of the understanding. 
The conception of the Infinite is everywhere 
irresistibly manifest. It places the supernatural 
in every human heart." 

An able writer in the Edinburgh Review says : 
(( He studies nature with a careless eye and a be- 
nighted mind who does not perceive that the 
supernatural is in it and above it. For, when all 
is said that science can teach, and all is done that 
skill can achieve, to cultivate the earth and bring 
forth its fruits, one gift remains, without which 
everything else were vain — that gift without which 
the earth would be no more than the cinders of 
a planet — the mystery and miracle of life. Life 
is everywhere. Without life nothing would exist 
at all ; with the diffusion of life creation begins ; 
and of that act all but a supernatural power is 
incapable." 

M. Dumas stands upon the borders of a great 
truth when he says : " The source of life and its 
essence are unknown to us. We have not the 
mysterious link which connects the body and 
mind, and constitutes the unity of the indi- 
vidual man." 

If we regard the mind, the intelligence, as the 
man, and the life as the intermediary and con- 
necting link between mind and body, the case is 
simple and plain enough. 

The above great, but humble, disciples of 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 173 



nature, sitting at her feet to receive instruction, 
present a strange contrast to the noisy and self- 
confident Colonel Ingersoll. He appears as a 
petulant and indulged child who had, with a care- 
less stroke of the hammer, hit his finger instead 
of the nail, and, as a consequence, was raving 
mad, and ready to tear down his father's work- 
shop, declaring that it must have been built by 
an "infinite fiend;" or as the little girl who, from 
the garden window watched her flower-bed through 
a beating storm, then running to her mother, petu- 
lantly said : " Mamma, see ! is Dod dood to hurt 
my flowers and your darden so ?" 

But the worst of this aspect of nature is yet to 
be considered. With the profound remarks above 
quoted before us, we shall not be surprised if 
nature, at some points, is deeper than the mind 
can penetrate. But let us face the facts fully and 
fairly. 

§6. Virtue may be the Occasion or Cause of 
Suffering. 

The old theology made a mistake in affirming 
that there could not be any suffering except as a 
punishment for sin. The Book of Job — the grand- 
est poem in existence — was written to prove the 
contrary. The figment that brutes and infants 
are punished because of the sin of Adam should 
never be mentioned again. There are evils which 
are not moral, and sufferings which are not judi- 
cial. These are facts which must be admitted 



174 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



without regard to consequences, for they are true. 
The question, then, is: Can we look upon a vast 
amount of innocent suffering, and at the same 
moment recognize the existence of God? Many 
related propositions at once lift up their heads 
and demand to be heard on this subject; and such 
is the complicated nature of the case that a wide 
range of thought is demanded. Evil, suffering, 
and punishment may, in some cases, refer to the 
same sin, but frequently they relate to things 
which have no moral quality. 

How often has history shown that virtue itself 
has been the cause or occasion of an untold amount 
of suffering in this world ! Think of the millions 
who have suffered death because of their unflinch- 
ing loyalty to the true and the right. Purity of 
life has sent untold thousands to the stake, to 
prison, and to jail. Christ said, "Blessed are the 
merciful" — the misericordia — the aching heart — 
why? Because the hearfs agony, in many cases, 
is the inevitable outcome of the best and purest 
qualities of human nature. We have seen the 
husband, the wife, the father and mother, wring 
their hands in the deepest distress because they 
could render no help to a suffering, dying loved 
one. In such a case the want of pain would have 
indicated a lack of virtue. Under the inspiration 
of the pain one suffers, is he not moved, as noth- 
ing else can move him, to alleviate the sufferings 
of others? Is not the ever- welcome suffering of 
virtue a relief, on the whole, to the world's suffer- 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 175 



ing? Was not this — the suffering of virtue — the 
basal principle of the suffering of Christ? 

§ 7. The Mind is disciplined and developed 
by Toie and Suffering. 

Were this life all, man would be an enigma 
which no philosophy could solve; but if we keep 
him before us as beginning an existence here, in 
a developing and disciplining state, as preparatory 
to a hereafter, the most troublesome problems 
arising from his situation will dissolve in a mo- 
ment. We read of fallen angels, and our impres- 
sion is that man offered but slight resistance and 
easily lapsed into sin. Have the angels, which 
kept their first estate, ever been subject to tests 
and trials, and have they thus strengthened and 
confirmed themselves in virtue? Unless they have 
been favored with such an experience, we do not 
see how their assurance of their position can be 
doubly sure. It was a profound remark made by 
an old divine that maturity and strength in the 
religious life required prayer, faith, and tempta- 
tion, and only a babe in Christ would wish to be 
carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease. The 
fact is, it is easy to see, when we come down to 
practical business and put all sentimentalism and 
poetic fancies aside, that this world, with its diffi- 
culties, dangers, duties, allurements to the byways 
of vice, and temptations to wrong-doing in a thou- 
sand instances, is, after all, exactly the world best 
adapted to our interests. The paths of right and 



i 7 6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



wrong are constantly before us, rendering it neces- 
sary for us, in the action of the will, to determine 
which shall be taken; and without this element 
of strength, character will ever remain a weak and 
flabby affair. Young people are often exhorted to 
avoid the snares and temptations of life; but as 
perfect success in this respect is impossible, would 
it not be better to instruct them to be on their 
guard, ever ready for the foe they must meet, and 
never think of any result except a fight and a vic- 
tory for the right? Is it possible for virtue to 
experience a vigorous growth and acquire a mature 
and manly strength, except by exercise in the arena 
of conflict? Was man ever known to be pre-emi- 
nent in virtue who had not in some way, or in 
various ways, passed through the furnace of temp- 
tation? "The trial of your faith," says an apostle, 
"is more precious than gold." 

§8. Apparent Evils may bk Real Blessings. 

We must here sharply distinguish between an 
evil and a sin. In the affairs of nature there may 
be evils — foils to something else — which are not 
sins. The bad medicine contemplates restored 
health; the laborious, wearisome study, mental 
development and strength; the amputated limb, 
the saving of life; the fasting of to-day, an im- 
proved appetite and a more vigorous digestion to- 
morrow ; and out of every conceivable evil of this 
order some good may be derived. Has not God 
allowed, and even ordained, that evils and suffer- 



SUFFERING OF THE INNOCENT. 177 

ings shall make up a large part of the affairs of 
this world, as a means of developing and maturing 
a stalwart virtue in man? As means to an end, 
what better arrangement could have been devised? 
Can either men or angels be safe without such an 
experience? Could man be so situated that, with- 
out an effort, every wish of his heart would be 
promptly granted, every passion gratified, and 
every object of his ambition accomplished, and all 
these things were legitimate and proper in them- 
selves, they might tend, in some small degree, to 
fix the habit of virtue; but as a first or continu- 
ous step to building a virtuous character, they 
would be of little or no value. It is by rowing 
against the current and riding upon the breakers 
that hardness of muscle and endurance of strength 
are secured. 

In speaking of the troubles of this life, as a 
state of probation, the always profound Bishop 
Butler says: 

" Virtuous self-government is not only always 
right in itself, but also improves the inward 
constitution of character, and may improve it to 
such a degree that, though we should suppose it 
impossible for particular affections to be abso- 
lutely coincident with the moral principle, and 
consequently should allow that such creatures as 
have been above supposed would forever remain 
defectible, yet their danger of actually deviating 
from right may be almost infinitely lessened and 
they fully fortified against what remains of it, if 



i 7 8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



that may be called danger against which, there 
is an adequate effectual security." 

If we would stop abasing, and properly inter- 
pret, this world, we might find, in its apparent 
evils and real sufferings, sources and means for our 
greatest advancement in virtue and our best se- 
curity against vice. 



LAW UNIVERSAL. 



179 



CHAPTER XII. 

LAW COMMENSURATE WITH THE VASTNESS OF THE 
UNIVERSE. 

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
sheweth his handiwork. — Bibi^e. 

§ 1. The Relation of the Creator to the Cre- 
ated surpasses Human Comprehension. 

In holding to God as a divine Personality, and 
denying that he is any part of the universe he 
created, either its substance or laws, we do not 
by any means isolate him from it and abandon it 
to its fate. If asked minutely to define the rela- 
tion the Creator sustains to the things created, 
we can only answer, He is Governor. If asked, 
How can he be said to govern that which is, in 
some way, subject to laws of its own — laws which 
are inherent in its own nature? — we answer, "By 
searching we can not find out the Almighty to 
perfection;" for u his wisdom is unsearchable, and 
his ways are past finding out." The Intelligence 
who has a clear and perfect conception of God as 
the Creator on the one hand, and of the universe 
he created on the other, might be able, with an 
eternity of time before him, to formulate the rela- 
tion they sustain to each other. The man who 
undertakes such a task, gives the fullest proof 



1 80 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

that he has but a very limited conception of either 
God or nature. We hold, at the same moment, to 
the existence of God as Governor, and to the reign 
of the laws he has established; and if critics shall 
stagger at the mysteries involved, we confess we 
can not help them. We will, however, engage 
to attack the proposition, and do for it the best we 
can, if any one will explain to us the relation ox- 
ygen and hydrogen sustain to each other so as to 
form a molecule of water. In the main, we must 
be content with facts. The why and how of things 
are a great way off. 

§ 2. In the Reign of I,aw wk see Transcen- 
dental Intelligence, Design, and Power, 
and these unerringly suggest a dlvine 
Personality. 

We have seen this illustrated in things small, 
and now let us take a wider sweep through the 
boundless domain of the Almighty, and see if 
we can detect there the same foot-prints of the 
world's Governor. Suppose we regard every star 
as a sun, surrounded by its retinue of planets and 
satellites, even then, in number, the worlds that 
come within the range of our great telescopes, 
compared to the whole universe, will be but "as 
a leaf of the forest when the summer is green;" 
yet, if a God exist, we may expect that as perfect 
order will everywhere prevail as in the formation 
of a drop of water or grain of sand. The Being 
who can establish a law which will always and 



LAW UNIVERSAL. 



181 



everywhere unerringly count the atoms of hy- 
drogen which constitute the differences between 
the sugars of cane, grape, and maple, can also 
weigh all the worlds that exist in his balances, 
and establish laws which will govern them with 
precision. 

Kepler was the first clearly to grasp the idea 
that the uniformity which prevailed everywhere, 
in the heavens above and the earth beneath, could 
be secured only by the action of a Supreme Law- 
giver; and also that man ought to be able to read 
these laws as written on the face of the things 
governed. After eighteen years of severe study 
and close observation, " hunting down," as he 
said, theory after theory, he was able to proclaim 
the following as clearly established facts: 

1. Planets revolve in ellipses with the sun at 
one focus. 

2. A line connecting the center of the earth 
with the center of the sun passes over equal 
spaces in equal times. 

3. The squares of the times of the revolution 
of the planets about the sun are proportional to 
the cubes of their mean distance from the sun. 

Kepler, by observation, discovered facts of the 
widest significance; but it was reserved for New- 
ton to discover the simple but universal law of 
gravitation, by which the relations and move- 
ments of all the planets were governed. This 
law includes in its grasp the smallest atom as 
well as all the orbs in space, it matters not 



182 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



what their size or distance from each other 
may be. 

Let us, for a moment, glance at the exactness 
and utility of the reign of law. The earth, for 
unknown ages, has been spinning its way around 
the sun, at a distance, according to the most trust- 
worthy calculations, of about ninety-three mill- 
ions of miles. We learn from Egyptian records 
that, three thousand years ago, so many days, 
hours, and seconds were required for the earth to 
complete this journey ; and their figures, com- 
pared with ours of to-day, present a difference 
of only the fifteenth part of a second, showing, if 
no mistake has been made either by the ancient 
Egyptian astronomers or by ourselves, that the 
centripetal force has gained upon the centrifugal 
a hair's breadth or so, lessening to that extent the 
earth's distance from the sun. How wonderful is 
this reign of law ! And the change indicated is 
quite likely to be an error of observation. If, in 
these facts, the universe does not declare the glory 
of God, its Governor, it is because we have not 
ears to hear. 

Neptune moves around the sun at the enor- 
mous distance of nearly three billions of miles, 
requiring for the journey one hundred and sixty- 
four years; and yet there is no reason why we 
should doubt that this planet performs its journey 
in the appointed time to the fraction of a second. 
Uranus, Saturn with his rings and moons, Jupiter 
with his train, and all the other children of the 



LAW UNIVERSAL. 



183 



sun, are equally obedient to his high commands. 
Carry out this idea of law and order to all the 
stars that shine, and to all the bodies that move 
through space, and ask the question, By whom 
was this system established? Whether a living 
God exist or not, the palpable facts of nature ir- 
resistibly force upon us such conceptions of a 
Power as embrace all the attributes and proper- 
ties in the abstract which we can conceive a God 
to possess; yet all that the words infinite or 
divine can imply may be clearly seen in all the 
work that is done between the littleness of weigh- 
ing or counting the atoms of hydrogen to form a 
molecule of sugar and arranging the galaxies of 
the skies. 

§ 3. i, aw pertains as rigidly to the formation 
of Character as to the Government of 
the Heavens. 

We can not too clearly fix in mind the fact 
that in a system of law, whether physical or 
moral, we encounter principles which are neces- 
sary, inflexible, and eternal. The bearing and 
importance of this element of government we 
shall more clearly see when we come to consider 
it in connection with the moral government of 
God. The question will then take this form : If, 
as a matter of law, heaven is the necessary out- 
come of purity of character, what will follow 
where such character is wanting? In its proper 
place this topic will be carefully considered. It 



1 84 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 



will appear that, in proportion as nature's laws, 
when known and obeyed, produce the best re- 
sults, when disobeyed they are terribly destruc- 
tive. The one alternative implies the other, as 
the positive pole of the magnet is always attended 
by the negative pole. In the suffering that fol- 
lows the violation of nature's laws we have the 
most positive proof that the world has a moral 
Governor. 

Should the Creator take from man his capacity 
to abuse nature by the transgression of its laws, 
to an equal extent his ability wisely to use it 
would also be reduced. In both these respects 
millions of our race have already been great suf- 
ferers. The Troglodytes, or cave-dwellers, like 
the Fuegians, were probably once a fairly well- 
civilized race of beings, whom the fortunes of 
relentless war reduced almost to the condition 
of brutes. When the crimes of avarice, ambition, 
and trade and commerce, were rendered impos- 
sible to them, they also had to be content with a 
cave for their home, a dug-out for their means 
of transportation, and with such nuts and berries 
as they could gather for their harvests. The mag- 
net may represent man, virtue, society, and gov- 
ernment ; you can not possess one pole without 
the possibilities of the other. 

Because of their mixture and mutually modi- 
fying influence, it is seldom that we see virtue in 
all its beauty, or vice in all its deformity. We 
flatter, ourselves that virtue and happiness are 



LA W UNIVERSAL. 1 85 

gaining, though slowly, the ascendency in the 
world. Man is rapidly conquering nature, and 
appropriating its wealth to his comfort. Formerly 
nations and tribes made war on each other, and 
imbrued their hands in each other's blood ; now, 
as a means of support, man looks to the earth 
and the oceans and seas as the sources of honest 
and inexhaustible wealth. The gold and silver, 
iron, coal, oil, and gas are made to relieve him 
from much of his toil and sweat, and bring to 
each locality the productions of every latitude 
and clime. Were man wise and moral enough to 
use, without excess, all the good things of nature, 
he would see, more clearly than he does now, that 
this world is characterized by the most boundless 
beneficence. Chalmers says : 

"Just imagine, for a moment, that honor and 
integrity and benevolence were perfect and uni- 
versal in the world ; that each held the property 
and right and reputation of his neighbor to be as 
dear to him as his own ; that the suspicion and 
the jealousies and the heart burnings, whether of 
hostile violence or of envious competition, were al- 
together banished from human society ; that the 
emotions, at all times delightful, of good-will on 
the one side were ever and anon calling the emo- 
tions, no less delightful, of gratitude back again ; 
that truth and tenderness hold their secure abode 
in every family ; and, on stepping forth on the 
wider companionship of life, that each could con- 
fidently rejoice in every one he met with as a 

16 



1 86 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

brother and a friend, — we ask if, on this simple 
change — a change, you will observe, in the morale 
of humanity — though winter should repeat its 
storms as heretofore, and every element of nature 
were to abide unchanged, yet, in virtue of a pro- 
cess and a revolution altogether mental, would not 
our millennium have begun, and a heaven on 
earth be realized ?" 

§4. Apparent Irregularities imply no Suspen- 
sion of Law. 

May we not, then, affirm that, notwithstanding 
winter storms and summer heats, and all other 
difficulties with which mortals are required to 
contend, that the creation of the universe was 
suggested by infinite wisdom and goodness? Can 
we not perceive, as we look down deep into the 
constitution of nature, that temporary evils are 
but the transient results of the operation of laws 
which are essential to the well-being of humanity 
as a whole? Let us glance at the genesis of a 
cyclone. The heat of the sun sets the air in mo- 
tion ; hills, mountains, valleys, and forests break it 
up into currents and waves ; at the same time 
evaporation from oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers 
goes on ; a marvelous force known as electricity — 
one of the most necessary forces of nature — is 
developed, and, in preserving its own equilibrium, 
it tends to preserve the equilibrium and quietness 
of nature ; but, in spite of this force, currents of 
the atmosphere collide and become gorged, waves 



LAW UNIVERSAL. 



187 



of vapor concentrate, and cloud becomes packed 
on cloud ; and the cyclone, the deluging rain, and 
the play of lightning which follow, are simply na- 
ture's method of finding repose in a restored 
equilibrium. What the earth suffers in this in- 
stance from the effects of the sun's heat is not to 
be mentioned in comparison with the blessings 
received at the same time from the operation of 
the laws which brought it about. 

§ 5. Law is an Incorporation of Infinite Intel- 
ligence and Design. 

The Atheist might as well rail against one 
aspect of nature as another ; for all alike result 
from the operation of common constitutional laws, 
and these laws are an expression of infinite wis- 
dom. Day and night, the changing seasons, the 
spring gushing from its fountain, the brook flow- 
ing over its pebbles, the song of the birds, the 
fragrance of the flowers, and whatever there is of 
nature that cheers the heart or pleases the fancy 
of man, bears alike the stamp of the same infinite 
mind. Even should the earth quake, and volcanoes 
spout their cataracts of lava, of this will we be con- 
fident, that underneath every apparent commotion 
there are in operation laws which are essential to 
the habitableness of the earth. 

Among the marvels connected with the opera- 
tion of the laws of nature, we may mention the 
evidences of contrivance and plan which we meet 
with at every turn. The matter or dirt which 



188 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



enters into the structure of the rose and lily is ex- 
actly what it was when afloat in the air or form- 
ing a part of the ground, and no one can suppose 
that it was the seat of consciousness or thought. 
Yet there is an intelligence somewhere which un- 
erringly directs this matter in one case so as to 
form a rose, and in the other case a lily. This 
consciousness and intelligence can not be in the 
dirt nor in the life of the respective flowers; at least 
we are not able to detect a trace of it there. 
Where, then, is it? It must be somewhere, for we 
see it worked out in the structure of the flower. 
The intelligence here manifested is of the highest 
order. Man can no more construct a lily than he 
can a solar system. It appears that the rose is a 
vital product, and that its life, acting out the laws 
of its being, so controls the forces and laws of 
matter as to fashion common dirt into this beau- 
tiful structure. One of the most complicated, 
beautiful, and exquisite organisms known to na- 
ture is the Foraminifera, and yet this shell is in- 
habited by nothing more in appearance than a 
little bleb of jelly. But there is the delicate and 
exquisitely constructed shell — the genius of man 
can not duplicate it. How came it to be? Could 
that jelly contrive and execute anything so won- 
derful? The facts in the case must proclaim its 
truth, or nature lies. What, then, are they? In 
that jelly there is life, and that life must be the 
embodiment of laws, or of fixed wisdom, which 
work out these results. The author of the intel- 



LAW UNIVERSAL. 



ligence and design which the laws express must 
be God. It is marvelous to think of the Author 
of all the substances of this vast universe; but far 
more so to think of the wisdom and power and 
goodness he deposited in the laws which he es- 
tablished for the structure of things and their 
government. Overlooking this fact vitiates the 
positive philosophy, for its most essential factor is 
wanting. 

No one believes that the human heart is the 
seat of consciousness or thought more than the 
stomach, the liver, or the kidneys, or even a flower 
or a stone ; yet in every throb it acts out a series 
of purposes or intentions. Physiologists have 
much to say of the structure and functions of 
organs ; but the meaning would be the same if 
they should substitute the word office or purpose 
for function. Why do the walls of the heart con- 
tract? For the purpose of expelling the blood. 
Why does the tricuspid valve close when the heart 
contracts? To prevent the return of the blood 
which is sent from the right ventricle to the lungs. 
What is the function or purpose of the mitral 
valve? It prevents the blood from returning into 
the left auricle, whence it came. For what pur- 
pose is the blood forced into the lungs? That it 
may be brought into contact with the air. The 
plant popularly known as "Venus's fly-trap" — Di- 
onea muscipula — exhibits, only on a much lower 
plane, the same evidence of structure and purpose. 
In the structure of the eye there are thirteen dif- 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ferent parts, and in separation no one of them is 
any more adapted to the purposes of vision than 
the wheels, screws, pins, and levers of a watch are, 
in separation, to marking time. But each part of 
the visual machinery — optic nerve, retina, iris, 
cornea, glands, lens, etc. — has a specific work oi 
its own to do, function to perform, or purpose to 
fulfill ; and as the result of the correlation and co- 
operation of the thirteen structures, we have the 
one eye — a visual organ. The ear is another and 
wholly different combination of separate structures, 
for the accomplishment of a very different pur- 
pose, Six different and curiously wrought struc- 
tures — the helix, anti-helix, scapha, tragus, concha, 
and lobe — correlated to each other and properly 
put together, each answering the purpose of its 
creation, make hearing a possibility to the mind. 

§ 6. Man, as an Intelligence, is made to Appre- 
ciate Intelligence in Nature. 

From our own mental operations and conscious- 
ness we know that we plan, contrive, adapt, de- 
sign, and purpose, and hence are familiar with 
these elements of intellectual phenomena wher- 
ever we see them, whether in a chipped flint or 
anything else. A watch-maker understands the 
mejital history of the maker of that instrument as 
well as he knows its machinery. In the design 
of the stone and bone instruments of the prehis- 
toric age we read the story of an empire that has 
wholly vanished. There is nothing which speaks 



LA W UNIVERSAL. 



191 



more clearly and intelligently to intelligence than 
purpose or intention. In their exquisite as well 
as great works, the purpose of the bee and the 
beaver are equally manifest. Different plans and 
different structures imply thought discrimination, 
choice, adaptation of means to ends, and design. 
In the case of the heart, the eye, the ear, the cell 
of the bee, and the dam of the beaver, where shall 
we find this intelligence? We answer: In the un- 
conscious laws of their being. How came such 
an infinitude of knowledge to be in unthinking, 
unconscious law? God placed it there, as in the 
highest and grandest part of creation. Natures 
law is God incorporate. This reading of nature 
touches every atom of fire-mist that ever whirled 
its way through space, as well as every sun that 
shines. Every spire of grass, every flower that 
blooms, every worm that crawls, and every wing 
that cleaves the air of heaven, incarnates, in the 
laws of its being, the wisdom and power of God. 

With this conception of nature before us, may 
we not humbly inquire, Who or what is Robert G. 
Ingersoll, that he should spit upon it, as he does, 
and if it must have a Creator, ascribe its existence 
to an " infinite fiend?" Are we to seek for the 
cause of his vituperation in the heights or in the 
depths he has found? Could we persuade him to 
look up into the face of nature, and look long and 
steadily, till his mind firmly grasped a measure 
of' its infinite richness and fullness, we think he 
might wish to hide his head in shame, and dry up 



192 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



the Niagara of his rhetoric. It is not wise to pick 
a flaw here and a flaw there, to select an item of 
this and another of that, and from these partial 
facts — isolated detachments — form an opinion of 
the whole; rather, each item of nature should be 
interpreted in the light of the whole. 

Colonel Ingersoll reminds us of the school-boy 
who made a mistake in figures, and then petu- 
lantly demanded that the science of mathematics 
be adjusted to his blunder; for it is clear to us 
that he zs, in some particulars, a mistake; hence 
his struggle to remodel heaven and earth, and 
especially to abolish hell, to suit his convenience. 
By limiting human thoughts and aspirations to 
this life, and by demanding that moral conduct 
be judged solely by its immediate consequences, 
he renders it impossible for us to attach to man 
anything like immortal dignity. Of course, from 
such conception of him, God is excluded, and 
immortality is but a dream. Cudworth quotes 
Plotinus as follows: 

"Whoever, therefore, from the parts thereof, 
will blame the whole, is an unjust and absurd 
censurer. For we ought to consider the parts, 
not alone by themselves, but in reference to the 
whole, whether they be harmonious and agreeable 
to the same; otherwise we shall not blame the 
universe, but some of its parts by themselves. God 
made the whole most beautiful, complete, entire, 
and sufficient — all-agreeing with itself and its 
parts." 



INFIDELITY— HO W GENERA TED. 1 93 



CHAPTER XIII. 

INFIDELITY GENERATED BY A PERVERSE SPIRIT. 

O Thou eternal One! whose presence bright 
All space doth occupy, all motion guide; 

Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight — 
Thou only God ! there is no God beside ! 

Being above all beings! Mighty One! 

Whom none can comprehend and none explore; 

Who fill'st existence with thyself alone — 
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er — 
Being whom we call God, and know no more! 

— Dkrzhavin. 

§ 1. The One Advantage the Skeptic possesses 
in this Discussion. 

The infidel champion of this age has one ad- 
vantage over all his opponents which he is quite 
sure to retain. In the defense of religion a wise 
Providence has furnished no weapons which can 
be used against scoffing and blasphemy; but in 
this respect we make no complaint against him 
as a disputant; for from the first, as an embit- 
tered Atheist, feeling that his infidelity had cost 
him dear, he entered the field without reverence 
for God or respect for the feelings of man. In 
the use of his rhetoric, he is capable of giving to 
ridicule and contempt a pungency never sur- 
passed, not even by the extreme vulgarity of 
Tom Paine. Hume, Volney, Huxley, and vSpencer 

17 



i 9 4 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



could use against Christianity all the arguments 
that were ever written, and the most reverent 
and fastidious Christian living would not raise an 
objection to an expression used, because argument 
alone would be the aim of the writer. A lion can 
meet a lion on equal terms, for both animals are 
armed with the same weapons and practice the 
same method of warfare; but there is an insig- 
nificant animal which is so peculiarly armed that 
it can creep out of its hiding-place and boldly 
defy all the beasts of the forest. In avoiding a 
conflict on the unequal terms presented, they dis- 
play, not cowardice, but prudence and a wise dis- 
cretion. Whilst therefore we attempt no reply to 
the vituperation and slang indulged in by Colonel 
Ingersoll, we shall not allow the repulsiveness of his 
language to deter us from the defense of the truth. 

The issue is fairly joined in the interpretation 
which must be given to the ever-open volume of 
nature, and there we meet on tangible ground 
and on equal terms. If the facts presented sig- 
nify malignity, chance, and confusion, then there 
is for us no standing whatever. He has the full- 
est opportunity to point out defects in the con- 
stitution of nature, and suggest the changes he 
would have made; but it will be our duty to 
stand for the defense of nature as it is. Let, 
therefore, the reader understand, once for all, that 
if the derision of things sacred is to be taken for 
argument because dressed in pompous rhetoric, 
we yield that part of the field without striking a 



INFIDELITY— HO W GENERA TED. 195 



blow. The conviction received from his writings 
is, that he is the embittered enemy of all forms 
of religious obligation, and that the indulgence 
of spite is of far more consequence to him than 
the use of argument. 

In view of what we have said, the reader is 
entitled to a few samples of his style of thought 
and form of expression, and to accommodate him 
we quote the following from his reply to Dr. 
Field, the man who had treated him with court- 
esy to excess: 

" Your God becomes, or rather is, an infinite 
Torquemada, who denies to his countless victims 
even the mercy of death." "It is your business 
to defend the God of the Presbyterian faith." 
" Man must believe in your God." " Your God 
sends his pestilence on the just and the unjust." 
" His earthquake devours, and his cyclones rend 
and wreck, the loving and the vicious, the honest 
and the criminal." " Do not these things prove 
that your God is cruel to all alike? In other 
words, do they not demonstrate the absolute im- 
partiality of the divine negligence?" "Do you 
not believe that any honest man of average intel- 
ligence, having absolute control of the rain, could 
do vastly better than is being done? Certainly 
there would be no droughts nor floods. The 
crops would not be permitted to wither and die 
while rain was being wasted in the sea." " Is it 
conceivable that a good man, with power to con- 
trol the winds, would not prevent cyclones?" 



196 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



" Would you not rather trust a wise and honest 
man with the lightnings?" " Why should your 
God allow his worshipers, his adorers, to be de- 
stroyed by his enemies?" " The only thing you 
are really certain of in relation to your God is, 
that he is not what you think he is." "When I 
say your»God, of course I mean the God described 
in the Bible and the Presbyterian Confession of 
Faith." " But again I say that, in the nature of 
things, there can be no evidence of the existence 
of an Infinite Being." "Think for a moment 
of your God, the keeper of an infinite peniten- 
tiary filled with immortal criminals — your God, 
an eternal turnkey, without the pardoning power." 
"It is better to serve your neighbor than to serve 
God, even if God exist." "When has any God 
listened to the prayer of any man?" "It does 
not seem within the prospect of belief that Jeho- 
vah, the cruel, the jealous, the ignorant, and the 
revengeful, is the creator and the preserver of the 
universe." "If that doctrine is true, is not your 
God an infinite criminal?" "What do you think 
of Jehovah?" etc. 

The above quotations, exhibiting the spirit 
Ingersoll brings to the discussion of God, nature, 
and religion, will convince the reader of his dia- 
tribes that he must constantly discriminate be- 
tween the frothy fury of his invectives and argu- 
ment. He is aware that, on account of his 
blasphemies, he is avoided by the better part of 
community, and that for this ostracism he tries to 



INFIDELITY— HOW GENERATED. 197 



find some compensation in the applause of the 
baser sort of the profligate rabble. On account 
of his matchless eloquence he would be a great fa- 
vorite with politicians were it not for his obnoxious 
character ; but these astute men, appreciating the 
Christian sentiment of the Nation, find it neces- 
sary to relegate him to useless obscurity, as his 
advocacy would damage any cause which em- 
braced questions of decency, morality, or relig- 
ion. Under this ban and exclusion there is a 
sting which pierces the core of his being ; and, as 
an outlet to his wounded and angry feelings, 
he assails God and nature, religion and Chris- 
tian people. This part of the field we surrender 
to him. 

§ 2. Thk Infidel's Low Conception of Humanity 
places Man below the Plane of Religion. 

It is easy to detect the origin and trace the 
genesis of current infidelity. As a basic prin- 
ciple it is assumed that man begins and completes 
his destiny with this life and with the affairs of 
this world. Men are related to each other, to the 
ground, to the air, to the changing seasons, to 
business and trade, and all their interests are thus 
limited. So low down in the scale of being is 
man placed, that even if there were a God, as 
Creator and Father, it would be none of his busi- 
ness. As a part of the animal creation, beyond 
the affairs of this life he has no concern. 

With such conceptions of man and the world 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



accepted as true, and placed at the base of an 
argument, what but Atheistic conclusions could be 
reached? We have here nothing but a man of 
straw fitted up for the occasion. Sober argument 
required that a Scripture representation be made 
of God, of man, of the world, and of their rela- 
tion to eternity. The reasonableness and consist- 
ency of this conception of the universe might 
then have been properly considered. Objections 
which embraced fully the facts in the case would 
have carried weight and received attention. But 
to start an investigation of an immense subject by 
the consideration of a fragment of it, then caricature 
that fragment and make it the basis for the judg- 
ment of the whole, is not reasoning, but ranting. 

The Scripture doctrine is, that earth is not to 
be regarded as the real and proper home of man ; 
that there is for him a better country ; and that, 
at best, he can realize but the beginning of a 
troubled existence in this world. If earthquakes 
and cyclones annoy, they also remind him that he 
is away from home, a stranger in a strange land. 
The imperfection and misery of man's condition 
in this world find an ample explanation in the 
facts that as there exists a God of infinite purity, 
the moral wrong of this world must be the source 
of wretchedness more or less to all connected 
with it. Were it a palpable fact that wickedness 
and blessedness moved through this world hand 
in hand, the Atheist would find in it a more co- 
gent argument for his cause than any he now 



INFIDELITY— HOW GENERATED. 199 

possesses. The tears and sorrows of earth testify 
at the same time, and with the same force, to the 
inherent bitterness of sin, and that the world has 
a moral Governor. When, from a Christian stand- 
point, we are favored with a conception of the 
universe as a whole, Atheistic criticisms upon 
fragments here and there present a truly beggarly 
appearance. 

§ 3. A True and Elevated Conception of Man 

ESSBNTIAI, TO A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF 
RELIGION. 

The matter of the human body is not the 
man, — that is nothing but matter ; and it is in the 
body exactly what it was per se before it came to 
be a part of the body. The life of the body — 
a part of the vital world — built the body, animates 
it, and conserves it ; but that is not the man. 
The man is the mind, a high spirit, intelligence. 
As man is a substantive individual, he must have, 
or rather be, an indivisible and indestructible en- 
tity somewhere. What can that entity, that con- 
scious self be, but the mind? The life of the 
body seems as the intermediary between mind and 
body, and makes control of the body possible. 
Unextended mind can not come into contact with 
extended matter. The relation of mind to life is 
very intimate, but wholly inexplicable. We must 
not, then, simply conceive of man as an organism, 
but as an intelligence, allied in nature more closely 
to worlds above than to worlds below him. His 



200 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



body's kinship with the dust does not involve the 
man. We make these statements, not on the 
authority of revelation, but of physics, psychology, 
observation, and consciousness. 

Regarding the hand, and, in fact, the whole body, 
with its animating life, in their relation to the mind, 
as a part of the external world, let us isolate 
the mind — take it one side — and interrogate it in 
regard to those matters which relate to God, re- 
ligion, and eternity. To a long series of ques- 
tions we have in mind, this high Intelligence 
responds as follows : "I am conscious of respon- 
sibility for my purposes and intentions, whether 
carried into effect or not, and whether known or 
not ; and I do not see how this can be unless 
there is an All-seeing Judge somewhere, to whom I 
must give an account. I am conscious of weak- 
ness and dependence, and it is natural to think 
that the strong One knows it. I am aware that 
my knowledge is limited, but what I have carries 
me upon the borders of the Infinite. I need 
mercy, I need forgiveness, and who but the All- 
seeing One can forgive the secret sins of my 
heart? Right action brings me peace, and I feel 
that I have the approbation of all that is good in 
the universe. If I do wrong I am condemned, 
though man may be ignorant of it." Unless 
there be a God, I am an enigma. These items of 
human experience, these workings of the heart, are 
as much facts of nature as the ebb and flow of the 
tides. They must mean something; what is it? 



INFIDELITY— HOW GENERATED. 201 



§4. The Conscience is an Oracle in the 
Moral World. 

Conscience is a moral feeling or emotion, and 
we must not confound it with judgment nor 
with any intellectual faculty. Intellect is respon- 
sible for the decisions rendered on all questions 
of right and wrong, and conscience approvingly fol- 
lows an act which reason has decided is right, and 
disapprovingly follows an act which judgment has 
decided is wrong. There often is an erroneous 
judgment, but there can be no such thing as a corrupt 
conscience. Conscience, unless seared as with a hot 
iron and silenced, invariably and infallibly approves 
the right as decided by the judgment, and disap- 
proves the wrong as decided by the judgment. 

Conscience, then, as a part of creation, must 
be regarded as an element of nature. It is one 
of the roots of the moral world. It is the ear 
in man, which listens when God says: u Thou 
shalt!" Human nature is never presented to 
us in a more self-revealing and frightful aspect 
than when the guilty have been summoned to the 
judgment-bar of their own conscience. The poets, 
as our best interpreters of the heart, should be 
heard on this subject: 

" Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind ; 
The thief does fear every bush an officer." 

(Shakespeare.) 

" Guiltiness would speak though every tongue were out of use." 

(Ibid ) 



202 



A NATO 31 Y OF ATHEISM. 



" Remorse drops anguish from her burning eyes, 
Feels hell's eternal worm, and shuddering dies." 

(Sprague.) 

" He who once sins, like him who slides on ice, 
Goes swiftly down the slippery ways of vice ; 
Though conscience check him, yet these rubs gone o'er, 
He glides on smoothly, and looks back no more." 

(Juvenal.) 

"So do the dark in soul expire, 
Or live like scorpions girt with fire ; 
So writhes the mind remorse hath riven — 
Unfit for earth, undoomed for heaven ; 
Darkness above, despair beneath ; 
Around it flame, within it death." (Byron.) 

" When cruel deeds are done, in vain relents 
The doer's heart, and mournfully repents. 
So when a fire has raged, the smokes that rise, 
In useless lamentation drape the skies." 

(Oriental.) 

If the greatest of herbs comes from the small- 
est of seeds, and if the mighty oak of the forest 
is but an evolution of the potency lodged in the 
acorn, may we not infer that the realm of which 
conscience forms a part, will touch the whole life 
of every intelligent being? Do we not find in- 
corporated in ourselves the root-element of a 
moral government? Anguish and remorse of soul, 
because of secret sins, indicate a personal inward 
disturbance of character; and the idea of responsi- 
bility and accountability can be interpreted only 
on the hypothesis that there is an All-seeing One, 
now dealing with us, who has the authority to 
judge and to punish. To see this subject in all 
its length and breadth,- we must take it into the 



INFIDELITY— HO W GENERA TED. 203 

light of the moral world, and an intelligence which 
grasps the great truth that the character we form 
here fixes our destiny forever. Atheism makes its 
most important point against religion by degrading 
man and placing him beneath the reach of truth. 

§5. Sacrifice is an Element of the Constitu- 
tion of Nature. 

The skeptic inquires: "Does it seem possible 
that infinite goodness would create a world in 
which life feeds on life — in which everything de- 
vours and is devoured? Can there be a sadder 
fact than this? Innocence is not a certain shield." 

All this is maudlin sentimentalism, and 
amounts to nothing. In this world of sin and 
struggle, virtue is called upon to act a noble part. 
The post of danger is the post of honor. If virtue 
is to excuse us from activity, and shield us from 
sacrifice and suffering, the less we have of it the 
better. Duty and affection, as elements of virtue, 
may plunge us in the floods, or send us through 
the flames, to rescue wife or child or friend, and 
there can be no higher virtue than the unselfish 
sacrifice of life for the good of others. 

So far as we know, there is nothing that exists 
for itself. Each atom is correlated to other atoms, 
and without such correlation the world would be 
something like an impalpable ether. As we rise 
higher and higher in the scale of being, relation- 
ships become more complex, more intricate, and 
of a higher order. In the fact that the lower 



204 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



orders of animals exist, not only for themselves 
but for higher orders, we may see the pregnant 
truth that selfishness and waste are not parts of 
the constitution of nature. The element of vica- 
riousness is imbedded in the self-sacrificing order 
of nature ; and why should the theological appli- 
cation of the principle — the highest application it 
can receive — be treated by infidels with such ex- 
treme contempt? 

§6. The Infinite Creator occupies a Realm 
All His Own, as He only is Divine. 

Ingersoll tries his hand at metaphysics in the 
following bungling manner: "If nature is infinite, 
how can there be a power outside of nature? . . . 
But if you mean that there is something super- 
natural back of nature, directing events, then I 
insist that there can, by no possibility, be any evi- 
dence of the existence of such a power." That is, 
there can not be two infinities ; and if nature is in- 
finite, then there can be no God. 

The root of the difficulty is in confounding the 
meaning of two words of very different meaning — 
infinite and divine. We say of time, space, and 
number that they are infinite — that is, unlimited — 
and we make no objection to the theory, or rather 
to the terminology, that the universe is infinite. 
But none of these infinities are attributes of God, 
nor does their existence interfere with his exist- 
ence. Neither number nor bulk nor time nor 
space is an attribute or relation of the Almighty. 



INFIDELITY— HO W GENERA TED. 205 



He is distinguished from the whole universe of 
things in that, in essence, he is divine. His exist- 
ence is in a realm exclusively his own. He is not 
material, not human, not angelic, and the exist- 
ence of such things and beings is not in the sphere 
of the divine. Nothing more gross or coarse can 
be found in heathen mythology than the idea that 
God, in bulk, fills all space, making the existence 
of other things impossible. 



206 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ATHEISM IS INTRENCHED IN THE DOCTRINE OF 
NECESSITY. 

The; great service a false psychology has rendered to the 
cause of necessity is easily seen. For having identified an 
act of the will with a state of sensibility, which, is universally 
conceived to be necessitated, the necessitarian is delivered 
from more than half his labors. By merging a phenomenon 
or manifestation of the will in a state of sensibility, it seems 
to lose its own characteristic, which, is incompatible with the 
scheme of necessity, and to assume the characteristic of feel- 
ing, which is perfectly reconcilable with it; nay, which de- 
mands the scheme of necessity to account for its existence. 

— Bledsoe. 

§ i. Atheism denies the Doctrine of Man's 
Free Agency. 

We now propose to examine those principles 
which, more than all others, serve as the founda- 
tion of the fashionable Atheism of the present 
age. Colonel Ingersoll, speaking for his school, 
in a letter to Dr. Field, says : 

" Is there not room for a better, for a higher 
philosophy? After all, is it not possible that we 
may find that everything has been necessarily pro- 
duced; that all religions are superstitions, all mis- 
takes and all crimes were simply necessities? Is 
it not possible that out of this perception may 
come not only love and pity for others, but abso- 
lute justification for the individual? May we not 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 207 

find that every soul has, like Mazeppa, been 
lashed to the wild horse of passion, or, like Pro- 
metheus, to the rocks of fate?" 

As the insuperable difficulty in the way of 
this conception of God, man, and nature arises 
from the doctrine of Free Will and the consequent 
responsibility of man for his conduct, he disposes 
of this objection as follows in his letter to Glad- 
stone : 

"You seem to think that the fact of responsi- 
bility is in danger unless it rests upon the will, 
and this will you regard as something without a 
cause. ... Is not the will a product? Inde- 
pendent of all conditions, can it exist?" An ad 
captandwn question, by the way. "Is it not 
necessarily produced? Behind every wish and 
thought, every dream and fancy, every fear and 
hope, are there not countless causes?" 

From the above disjointed and scarcely intel- 
ligible questioning, it is evident that Ingersoll 
confounds will with desire, feeling, and sensibil- 
ity; and really he has no conception of its true 
character. One thing, however, is clear : he ex- 
cludes from the mind everything which can serve 
as the basis of responsibility. It has at last be- 
come clear that infidelity is intrenched in the 
doctrine of fate as its stronghold, and the history 
of thought has shown that in all the past, where 
the laws of logic are regarded, the adoption 
of the doctrine of necessity necessarily leads to 
Atheism. 



2o8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 2. Materialistic Philosophy embraces the 
Idea of Necessity. 

Physical, chemical, and mechanical laws con- 
trol at every step the science of matter. With 
matter as quantity the science of mathematics is 
closely associated, and the materialist ascribes 
its precisions to every change or combination that 
can take place in either the universe of matter or 
mind. Matter is held to be eternal. There is 
no place for a divine Personality, and in man 
neither a vital nor a spiritual nature is recognized. 
The beginning and ending of all government is 
found in the sway of mechanical law. Man is no 
more responsible for what he does than water is 
for freezing or thawing as the temperature of the 
atmosphere may change. Cudworth reasons God 
out of this fatalistic universe as follows: 

" The supposed Deity and maker of the world 
was either willing to abolish all evils, but not 
able ; or he was able, but not willing ; or else, 
lastly, he was both able and willing. This latter 
is the only thing that answers to the notion of 
God. Now, that the supposed Creator of all 
things was not thus both able and willing to 
abolish all evils is plain, because then there would 
have been no evils at all left. Wherefore, since 
there is a deluge of evils overflowing all, it must 
needs be that either he was willing and not able 
to remove them, and then he was impotent; or 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 



209 



else lie was able and not willing, and then he 
was envions ; or, lastly, he was neither able nor 
willing, and then he was both impotent and en- 
vious." 

The above statement has been generally ac- 
cepted by Atheists as satisfactory, and thus we 
have as a universe a self-made, godless piece of 
material mechanism. We have now reached and 
combined the two principles — the existence of 
evil and the doctrine of necessity — which lie at 
the foundation of more of the infidelity of the 
world than all things else which can be found in 
the form of argument. It is not necessary to 
suppose that one in a hundred skeptics has the 
scientific knowledge or the philosophic aptitude 
necessary to construct a system of materialistic 
fatalism; for scores and scores of really learned 
and able men have worked at this problem with 
great diligence for centuries, and the crowd can 
avail itself of their labors. There have been ne- 
cessitarians, a host of them, who were not Athe- 
ists. Many of them have been devout and earnest 
Christians. Augustine incorporated the fatalism 
of the Stoics with theology; and since his time a 
large part of the Christian world has accepted 
this construction of government, and regarded it 
as one of the " deep things of God" not amenable 
to reason. Ingersoll recognizes the evils of the 
world, and accepts the doctrine of necessity, but 
refuses to acknowledge that a God of infinite 
perfection can be the creator and governor of such 

18 



2 1 o ANA TOM Y OF A THEISM. 



a world. On any theory he must be a fatalist ; 
but he can get along with the miseries of life far 
better on the hypothesis of materialistic or purely 
mechanical law than on the theory of the arbitrary 
sway of an infinite moral governor. He can look 
with complacency upon imperfection or friction in 
a senseless piece of machinery which runs itself, 
but not on the imperfect government of a Being 
who is supposed to possess infinite perfections. 

Colonel Ingersoll has discreetly abstained from 
an exposition of the doctrine of necessity, and ac- 
cepted the conclusions reached by his predeces- 
sors. He found this work so well done and ready 
for his use, that improvement was out of the 
question. He also found that his mental aptitude 
and peculiar tastes would not be able to achieve 
eminent success in any line of abstract thought. 
It is, however, important that we see where we 
stand, and the reasons therefor; and to do this, 
we must drop for the time being the champion 
infidel of this age and refer to the teachings of 
his masters. 

§ 3. The Freedom of the Human Wii.iv. 

It is evident that the mind of most modern 
skeptics is thoroughly saturated with the writings 
of Diderot, one of the early French infidel philos- 
ophers. He was among the first to perceive that 
the exposition made of the Will by Locke could 
be pressed into the scheme of fatalism, and he 
was swift to make the most of it. Though as an 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 211 



absolute necessitarian he refused to admit that 
human beings were in the least degree responsible 
for their conduct, yet he yielded to the arguments 
which Hobbes and Spinoza had produced in favor 
of civil governments and the execution of pun- 
ishment upon evil-doers. He says: 

" But if there is no liberty, there is no action 
that merits either praise or blame ; neither vice nor 
virtue — nothing that ought to be either rewarded 
or punished. What, then, is the distinction among 
men? The doing of good and the doing of evil! 
The doer of evil is one who must be punished. 
The doer of good is lucky, not virtuous. But 
though neither the doer of good nor of evil be 
free, man is, nevertheless, a being to be modified. 
It is for this reason the doer of evil should be de- 
stroyed on the scaffold. From thence the good 
effects of education, of pleasure, of grief, of gran- 
deur, of poverty, etc. ; from thence a philosophy 
full of pity, strongly attached to the good, nor 
more angry with the wicked than with the whirl- 
wind which fills one's eyes with dust." . . . 

The above is, of course, a practical exposi- 
tion of the doctrine of necessity, without any at- 
tempt at proof. That was furnished when the as- 
sault was made upon the will, and will be noticed 
further on. 

The following appeal by Diderot, Ingersoll 
seems to have accepted as if made personally to 
himself: 

" Adopt these principles, if you think them 



212 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



good, or show me that they are bad. If you 
adopt them, they will reconcile you with others 
and with yourself. You will neither be pleased 
nor angry with yourself for being what you are. 
Reproach others for nothing, and repent of noth- 
ing. This is the first step to wisdom. Besides 
this, all is prejudice and false philosophy.' ' 

§4. The Doctrine of Necessity expounded. 

David Hume, one of the acutest thinkers of 
any age, is not a favorite author with the people. 
To read his speculative productions understand- 
ingly is no child's play, and but few infidels even 
spend much time over his pages. His skeptical 
philosophy has, however, in a diluted form, come 
down to us through a thousand channels. The 
speculative philosophies of Bain, Huxley, Tyndall, 
Mill, and scores besides, are but second or fortieth 
editions of Hume, with contractions, dilutions, ex- 
pansions, deteriorations, or modifications of some 
kind. With these later authors our doughty skep- 
tic is somewhat familiar; but that we may be sure 
we have the doctrine pure and simple, we will go 
to Hume directly, who, in its modern form, is, in 
fact, its fountain-head. On the subject of Liberty 
and Necessity he says : 

"It is universally allowed that matter, in all 
its operations, is actuated by a necessary force, 
and that every natural effect is so precisely deter- 
mined by the energy of its cause that no other 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 



213 



effect, in such particular circumstance, could pos- 
sibly have resulted from it." 

The correctness of the above statement we 
fully concede, but deny the appositeness of the 
application which Hume makes of it to human 
conduct. Let us bear in mind that the law by 
which anything is governed is not an outward 
pressure upon it, but arises from within, and is an 
expression of the nature or essence of the thing 
governed. If mind, just as matter, comes under 
the law of cause and effect, then mind is matter, 
or it is an affection of matter. In a remote and 
general sense, men, society, and nations may be 
infltienced by outward material considerations ; and 
doubtless they are, but no fact of that class has 
any bearing upon the freedom of the will. Hume 
says : 

" The same motives always produce the same 
actions; the same events follow the same causes — 
ambition, avarice, self-love, vanity, friendship, 
generosity, public spirit. These passions, mixed 
in various degrees, and distributed through soci- 
ety, have been from the beginning of the world, 
and still are, the sources of all the actions and 
enterprises which have ever been observed among 
mankind." 

In the above the will is not referred to, or in 
any way recognized. "Motives" are addressed to 
the reason to aid it in its decisions, and can not 
touch the will. " Ambition, avarice," etc., are 



214 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



feelings, and they do not possess an element of 
will-power. We deny the truthfulness of every 
statement in the above paragraph. Nor can Hux- 
ley, with all his admiration for Hume, ranking 
him with Kant in ability, follow him here ; for he 
says: " The will counts for something." Hume 
disposes of the question of free will by ignoring 
the will entirely. On this subject he was the 
pupil of Edwards, a clergyman, who never had 
the faintest conception of the will as now under- 
stood by all psychologists. But let us see the 
conclusion of his argument: 

" If these circumstances form, in reality, the 
whole of that necessity which we conceive in 
matter, and if these circumstances be also inva- 
riably acknowledged to take place in the opera- 
tions of the mind, the dispute is at an end." 

But this is exactly what, for reasons given 
above, we deny. Human liberty is defined as 
follows : 

"By liberty we can only mean. a power of act- 
ing or not acting according to the determinations 
of the will — that is, if we choose to remain at rest, 
we may ; if we choose to move, we also may. Now 
this hypothetical liberty is universally allowed to 
belong to every one who is not a prisoner or in 
chains." 

No one ever saw more clearly than did Hume 
that liberty, as he defined it, referred exclusively 
to the body — to that which maybe "chained" and 
"imprisoned" — and that it amounted to nothing 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 



215 



as a basis of responsibility. The mental man is 
not made to count for anything in this definition 
of will. He says again: u In short, if motives are 
not under our power or direction — which is con- 
fessedly the fact — we can, at bottom, have no lib- 
erty." In other words, as we are rigidly the vic- 
tims of motive, we are, "at bottom," the creatures 
of necessity. 

§ 5. The Doctrine of Necessity can be clearly 
seen only in its application. 

By looking at the practical application which 
Hume makes of this doctrine, using his own lan- 
guage, we shall be able to trace the fatalism of 
Ingersoll to its source. He says: 

" The only proper object of hatred or vengeance 
is a person or creature [who is] endowed with 
thought or consciousness; and when any criminal 
or injurious actions excite that passion, it is only 
by their relation to the person or connection with 
him. Actions are, by their very nature, temporary 
and perishing; and when they proceed, not from 
some cause in the character and disposition of the 
person who performed them [but from outside 
'motives'], they can neither redound to his honor 
if good, nor infamy if evil. The actions them- 
selves may be blamable — they may be contrary to 
all the rules of morality and religion — but the 
person is not amenable to them ; and as they pro- 
ceed from nothing in him that is durable and 
constant, and leave nothing of that nature behind 



2l6 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



them, it is impossible he can, upon their account, 
become the object of punishment or vengeance. 
According to the principle, therefore, which denies 
necessity — and, consequently, causes — a man is as 
pure and untainted after having committed the 
most horrid crime, as at the first moment of his 
birth. Nor is his character anywise concerned in 
his actions, since they are not derived from it, and 
the wickedness of the one can never be used as 
proof of the depravity of the other." All this, 
because man is governed by motives, and the will 
counts for nothing. 

Hume conceives character to be a machine, 
subject to mechanical law; if the machine be good, 
it will run well and is worth preserving; if bad, 
it will not run well, and, though not to be blamed, 
it should be destroyed — "hung," as Diderot says. 
There is no more recognition of a will, or of will- 
power, in the mind than in a clock or an engine ; 
nothing of the kind exists to direct one's conduct. 
Human action can be depended upon only as it 
springs from necessity. If it were possible for the 
act to be one of a number which might have taken 
place, then, good or bad, it is without moral qual- 
ity, This philosophy was first formulated in 
modern times by Spinoza. These are his words: 

"Will you say that God can not be angry with 
the wicked, or that all men are worthy of beati- 
tude? In regard to the first point, I perfectly 
agree that God can not be angry with anything 
which happens according to his decree, but I deny 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 



217 



that it results that all men ought to be happy ; for 
man can be excusable and at the same time be de- 
prived of beatification, and made to suffer in a 
thousand ways. A horse is excusable for being a 
horse and not a man, but that prevents not that 
he ought to be a horse and not a man. He who is 
rendered mad by the bite of a dog is excusable, 
and yet we ought to restrain him. In like manner, 
the man who can not govern his passions, nor re- 
strain them by the fear of the law, though excus- 
able on the account of the infirmity of his nature, 
can nevertheless not enjoy peace, nor the knowl- 
edge and love of God, and it is necessary that he 
should perish." 

When we get around to this Hell Gate, where 
so many thousands of human crafts have been 
wrecked, we intend to dynamite it. 

The difference between Diderot and Spinoza is 
the difference between Materialistic and Panthe- 
istic necessity. Without a knowledge of the argu- 
ments of either, Colonel Ingersoll agrees with the 
conclusions of both. 

§ 6. The Doctrine of Necessity has as thor- 
oughly corrupted Theology as Philosophy. 

The first element of heathen philosophy which 
Christianity encountered after the apostolic age 
was the doctrine of necessity. At that time this 
was the accepted doctrine of all the great schools 
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It constituted an 
important part of the intellectual furniture which 

19 



218 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



educated converts brought with them into the 
Church. As it had for some hundreds of years been 
regarded as one of the few settled facts of nature and 
government, no one called its truthfulness in ques- 
tion, or even seemed to think of the bearing it might 
have upon the scheme of Christianity. Augustine 
was a Greek, and a great lover of Greek philos- 
ophy ; and animated by a desire to do a great serv- 
ice to religion and to Christian people, he set 
about the work of incorporating philosophical 
necessity with the accepted theology of the Church. 
In this, the greatest undertaking of his life, he was 
but too successful. 

For some hundreds of years during the Dark 
Ages — " that night of a thousand years " — this doc- 
trine retired to the cloister, and received but little 
attention except from chattering monks. With 
the Reformation, however, it was brought to light, 
and in the hands of Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, 
and especially Calvin, it was given a conspicuous 
place in the front line of human thought. It be- 
came the central idea in all the catechisms and 
confessions of faith framed at the time, and in a 
somewhat mummified form it holds that position to- 
day. As a pulpit theme it was universal, and with a 
multitude of preachers a favorite doctrine. Chil- 
dren were taught it in the nursery, theological 
schools were founded and endowed to teach it, 
and ordination vows were framed to embrace it as 
a message from heaven to be published to the 
world. It was made a condition of membership 



DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY. 219 



in the Church and admission to the sacraments. 
At its behests mothers resigned their children to 
their fate, even if that were eternal damnation. 
Nowhere, during all the ages of the past, has the 
doctrine of necessity so fully intrenched itself as 
in the theology of the modern Church. 



2 20 ANA 7 OMY OF A THEISM. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THEOLOGY HAS BEEN VITIATED BY THE DOCTRINE 
OF NECESSITY. 

Thus, according to these philosophers, everything is full 
of God. Not content with the principle that nothing exists 
but by his will, that nothing possesses^any power but by his 
concession, they rob nature and all created beings of every 
power, in order to render their dependence on the Deity still 
more sensible and immediate. They consider not that by this 
theory they diminish instead of magnifying the grandeur of 
those attributes which they affect so much to celebrate. It 
argues surely more power in the Deity to delegate a certain 
degree of power to inferior creatures, than to produce every- 
thing by his own immediate volition. It argues more wisdom 
at first to contrive the fabric of the world with such perfect fore- 
sight, that of itself, by its proper operation, it may serve all 
the purposes of Providence, than if the great Creator were 
obliged every moment to adjust its parts, and animate 
by his breath all the wheels of that stupendous machine. 

— Hume. 

§ i, thkoi.ogy has suffered from its aljjances 
with Philosophy. 

There are two separate and independent lines 
of thought which place the universe under the 
law of necessity. These are materialistic mech- 
anism and Pantheistic idealism. 

The argument for necessity, as furnished by 
the Atheist, was presented in the last chapter; 
and we propose now to bring into the field as 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 221 

their unconscious allies, a class of distinguished 
theologians ; for, strange as it may seem, Chris- 
tian writers, of great eminence and deep piety, 
have given the whole weight of their learning 
and logic to support this stronghold of Atheism. 
The doctrine of fatalism has held a high place in 
the creeds of Churches, and done much to mold 
the thought of the religious world. The Atheist 
looks upon the universe as composed of matter, 
governed by mechanical law; the Christian fatal- 
ist regards God, the infinite, the absolute, the 
all-embracing One, as the all-controlling power in 
the universe. God alone is cause ; he is the cause 
of causes — all else is effect. 

§ 2. Theological Necessity logic ally leads to 
Atheism. 

There are many in the world — some of them 
sons of clergymen — who in early life were taught 
to think and believe that God was the cause and 
author of whatever happens. In conviction and 
feeling they revolted from this idea. They were 
conscious of existence, and that they did things. 
When they sinned, they dared not ascribe that act 
to God ; they knew it was their own act. But as 
years increased, they found that the doctrine of 
necessity was sustained by Church creeds and by 
the most ponderous systems of theology that were 
ever constructed. Finally they went out into the 
world of philosophy, and there they learned that 
the accumulated lore of thousands of years, in 



222 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 



the main, taught the same doctrine. Must they 
stand alone, and reject what the world believes, 
and has for ages believed, and thus become neces- 
sitarians ? If necessitarians, on what ground can 
they stand? Can a God exist, infinite in all 
attributes, and at the same time be the cause 
and the author of all the evil that exists, and has 
ever existed in this world? For one, I confess 
I do not see how a human mind can answer that 
question in the affirmative ; and I am not sur- 
prised that, among the thousands and thousands 
who have been compelled to answer it, many have 
given the Atheistic answer. As a matter of com- 
pulsion I should do it. 

The theologico-philosophers who have pressed 
this question upon the attention of young men 
with minds bright but immature, imaginations 
quick, and feelings tumultuous, and demanded 
an affirmative answer, have done that which, 
more than everything else, was suited to drive 
them into some form of infidelity. 

Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, 
teaches as follows: "Creation is not a single 
act, but a continuous exertion of divine agency, 
without which everything would instantly lapse 
into the nothingness whence it was drawn. . . . 
Mere philosophy is enough to make us know that 
there can not enter the least thought into the 
mind of man but God must will and have willed 
from all eternity that it should be there. . . . 
God could not be absolutely perfect if there could 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



223 



happen anything in this world which did not 
spring entirely from him." Descartes furnished 
Spinoza and Malebranche the ideas which lie at 
the base of the closely related systems of neces- 
sity — Pantheism and Idealism — which they gave 
to the world. 

§3. The Doctrine of Necessity is the Same, 
though it may spring from dlfferent roots. 

Among the hundreds of great religious lights 
of the past two hundred years, who have taught 
the doctrine of necessity, we may mention the 
names of Calvin, L,ocke, Leibnitz, Hartley, Ed- 
wards, Edwards the younger, Chalmers, President 
Day, Dr. Dick, D'Aubigne, and Dr. McCosh. The 
doctrine as taught by all these authors is practi- 
cally the same as that taught by modern Atheists, 
and by the Stoics of twenty centuries ago. As 
one of the very ablest expounders of this doctrine, 
we quote from Edwards : 

"It is evident that such a providential dispos- 
ing and determining of men's moral actions, 
though it infers a moral necessity of those actions, 
yet it does not in the least infringe the real lib- 
erty of mankind, the only liberty that common 
sense teaches to be necessary to moral agency, 
which, as has been demonstrated is not incon- 
sistent with such necessity." 

The moral agency claimed for man is founded 
on his "liberty to do as he wills or pleases." This 
is the definition of liberty given by Hobbes, 



224 



A NATO My Of ATHEISM. 



Hartley, and Hume, adopted from Edwards, and 
is regarded as orthodox by all schools of fatalists, 
whether Atheistic, theological, idealistic, or Pan- 
theistic. Hume expresses all there is in it when 
he says it signifies that " if a man is not impris- 
oned or chained, and wills or desires to get up 
and go somewhere, he can do so." Such liberty 
is physical, not mental or moral ; it is the liberty 
water has to run down a plane when a liquid, and 
not ice ; and it can not be the basis of moral ac- 
countability. Whatever will the creature has, is 
forced upon him ; the Atheist would say by the 
strongest motive ; the theologian, by the power 
of God. At any rate, the machine is made, and 
as made so it must run. When Edwards speaks 
u of such a providential disposing and determining 
of men's moral actions," he means that God 
touches the spring of action — the cause — and 
makes "a moral necessity" of those acts. "The 
sequence " of this divinely-caused will, Edwards 
says, "no advocate of philosophical necessity is 
ever heard to deny." Thus on one point — the 
main point in both — Atheism and religion, phi- 
losophy and Christianity, Hume and Edwards are 
in agreement. 

Before proceeding further in this discussion, 
courtesy and Christian charity demand that we 
credit the theological necessitarians with a deep 
religious character and a consecration of life to 
the good of humanity. They were not Stoics >' 
they were not materialists ; they had no sympa- 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



225 



thy with infidelity, and no men ever lived who 
were more valiant for what they regarded the 
truth. They had inherited the doctrine of neces- 
sity from their ancestors, and, in the spirit of loy- 
alty to the past and duty to the present, they 
labored to make the most of such light as they 
had. The outrages they were compelled to per- 
petrate upon logic were smothered over by the 
plea of "mystery," "the deep things of God," 
" the weakness of the human understanding," etc. 
Whilst, therefore, we deal with their false logic 
and heathenish doctrine without any mercy, we 
shall cherish the most profound respect for the 
men. Thomas Chalmers, one of the greatest men 
and the greatest pulpit orator Scotland ever pro- 
duced — his gorgeous periods often remind us of 
the rhetoric of Ingersoll — uses the following lan- 
guage in exposition of the doctrine of theological 
necessity : 

" The denial of this doctrine supposes God to 
create a world and not reserve in his own hand the 
management of its concerns. Though it should 
concede to him an absolute sovereignty over all 
matter, it deposes him from his sovereignty over 
the region of created minds, that far more dig- 
nified and interesting portion of his work. The 
greatest events of the history of the universe 
are those which are brought about by the agency 
of willing and intelligent beings; and the enemies 
of the doctrine invest every one of these beings 
with some sovereign and independent principle 



226 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



of freedom, in virtue of which it may be asserted 
of this whole class of events that they happened, 
not because they were ordained of God, but be- 
cause the creatures of God, by their own uncon- 
trolled power, brought them into existence. . . . 
All this carries along with it so complete a de- 
thronement of God . . . that . . . the doctrine in 
question is at this moment receiving a very gen- 
eral support from the speculations of infidel as 
well as Christian philosophers. . . . 

" But let us carry the commanding influence 
of Deity into the higher world of intelligent and 
moral beings. Let us not erect the will of the 
creature into an independent principle. Let us not 
conceive that the agency of man can bring about 
one single iota of deviation from the plans and the 
purposes of God, or that he can be thwarted and 
compelled to vary, in a single case, by the move- 
ment of any of those subordinate beings whom 
he himself has created. There may be a diver- 
sity of operations, but it is God who worketh all 
in all. Look at the resolute and independent 
man [bad as well as good], and you there see the 
purposes of the human mind entered upon with 
decision, and followed up by vigorous and suc- 
cessful execution. But these only make up 07ie 
diversity of God^s operations. The will of man, 
active and spontaneous and fluctuating, as it ap- 
pears to be, is an instrument in his hand ; and he 
turns it at his pleasure, and he brings other in- 
struments to act upon it, and he plies it with all 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



227 



its excitements, and he measures the force and 
proportion of each of them, and every step of 
every individual [bad as well as good] receives as 
determinate a character from the hand of God as 
every mile of a planet's orbit. . . . The power 
of God knows no exceptions. It is absolute and 
unlimited; and while it embraces the vast, it car- 
ries its resistless influence to all the minute and 
unnoticed diversities of existence. It reigns and 
operates through all the secrecies of the inner 
man. It gives birth to every purpose [good or 
bad]. It gives impulse to every desire. It gives 
shape and color to every conception. It wields 
an entire ascendency over every attribute of the 
mind." (Sermon.) 

Protestant writers, from the time of Luther to 
Dr. McCosh, who still lives — many of them men 
of great worth and ability — have accepted Chal- 
mers's exposition of the doctrine of necessity. It 
seemed to them to be demanded by a proper con- 
ception of the sovereignty and power of God. A 
more inexcusable or fatal error could not well be 
committed. As they regarded the doctrine to be 
a true expression of God's glory, they cared but 
little for logical inferences, or for the abuses 
which might be made of it. Volumes, sufficient 
in number and bulk to make a respectable library, 
might be produced which bear exclusively upon 
this point, and it was with this kind of reading 
that, in early life, the mind of Ingersoll became 
saturated and disgusted. 



228 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§4. Thk Wondkr is that any Man can be a 
Fatalist and a Christian. 

Logically it seems to be a moral impossibility. 
Let any one read the following from Dr. Dick, 
one of the most popular writers of modern times, 
and then ask, What is left for me to do? 

"Here we come to a question which has en- 
gaged the attention, and exercised the ingenuity, 
and perplexed the wits of men in every age. If 
God has foreordained whatever comes to pass, the 
whole series of events is necessary, and human 
liberty is taken away. Men are passive instru- 
ments in the hands of their Maker. They can 
do nothing but what they are secretly and irre- 
sistibly impelled to do ; they are not, therefore, 
responsible for their actions, and God is the au- 
thor of sin. . . . By this theory human actions 
appear to be as necessary as the motions of mat- 
ter according to the laws of gravitation and at- 
traction; and man seems to be a machine, con- 
scious of his movements and consenting to them, 
but impelled by something different from him- 
self." (Lectures on Theology.) 

It was Ingersoll's revolt from this doctrine 
which led him, not out of Fatalism, as it should 
have done, but into the Atheistic conception of it, 
where we now find him. In clinging to necessity 
he denies, and very properly we think, that the 
cause of it can be a God of infinite perfections. 
Could he succeed in striking off the shackles of 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



229 



fatality, and investing physical and moral nature 
with constitutional law, the whole universe would 
present to hirn an aspect he has never yet beheld. 

§ 5. Fatalism is rooted in Idealistic Theolog- 
ical Philosophy. 

It has been said of Spinoza that "he was a 
God-intoxicated man;" but the intoxication was 
not spiritual nor moral, but logical. With him 
the term God embraced two ideas — extension and 
thought — and these he handled simply as factors 
in an argument, and nothing more. Ingersoll ac- 
cepts the universe as Spinoza conceived it, with 
God left out. 

But modern Christianity as well as current 
philosophy have become infected with what is 
known as Idealism, whose only tendency is to 
some form or modification of Pantheism or inde- 
finable Infinitism. Traces of these speculations 
are found in all forms of current infidelity. 

Herman Lotze, deceased, and his best living 
representative, Dr. Borden P. Bowne, of Boston 
University, are the champions of the speculations 
referred to. Lotze says: 

"And the most desperate efforts to find in the 
continual mediating activity of God the bond to 
which it is due, that the states of one thing be- 
come the efficient causes of change in another, 
can not obviate our speculative scruples, as long 
as they separate God and things from one another, 
in the same way as individual things used to be 



230 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

separated from one another. For these views, 
too, only double the unsolved problem — they sup- 
pose an action of things upon God, and a reac- 
tion of God upon them, and explain neither the 
action nor the reaction." [A purely materialistic 
conception of God.] "It has seemed indispensa- 
ble to remove this separation, and in a substantial 
community of being between all things to find the 
possibility of the states of one becoming efficient 
causes of the changes of another; for only thus 
can the change which any one of them experienced 
be at the same time a state of the Infinite." He 
teaches that in one all-embracing Being the plu- 
rality of finite things is contained. All which 
exists is but one Infinite Being, which stamps 
upon individual things, in fitting forms, its own 
ever-similar and self-identical nature. 

Professor Bowne puts this abstract philosophy 
into the concrete form, as follows : 

"We have seen that the Infinite mediates all 
interaction of the finite, and hence that all affec- 
tions of ourselves — thoughts, feelings, and pur- 
poses — are immediately from the Infinite ; God is 
the cause of causes, and the true objective ground 
of our changing states. . . . The cosmos can 
be nothing other than a mode of divine energiz- 
ing, which has the form of perception in the 
mind. . . . God, who embraces all finite spirits 
in his own existence, would produce in them a 
consistent world vision. . . . For God the 
world is only a thought and not a reality ; in his 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



231 



relation to finite minds it is only a rule for pro- 
ducing ideas. Beyond this the world has no 
existence."* 

All this is terribly plain. Only an idiot could 
mistake the meaning of these authors. The god 
of their conceptions is the origin and active cause 
of all things, even the crimes which have made 
earth groan beneath its burden of woe. 

§6. Idealism refuted. 

Idealism, the most vain and empty form of 
speculation that ever perplexed the mind of man, 
is based on the assumption that it is impossible for 
man to perceive or know that an external world, 
as a reality, exists. Subjectively he has ideas and 
impressions in regard to it, and his knowledge is 
limited to these — he can not affirm that there is 
anything external to himself answering to his 
ideas and impressions. 

Let us look into this business a little. What 
is man ? Is he a being, an individual ? and if so, 
in what does his entity consist? His hand, his 
foot, or any part of his body, or his body as a 
whole ? No ; none of these — not if he is an indi- 
vidual entity. The matter of the body is in a 
state of constant flux, and it is not the same sub- 
stance two days in succession. Is not the man 
proper a mind, or an intelligence of the spirit 
order? So we hold. And what is the life of the 



* Metaphysics, pp. 457, 467, 468, 470. 



232 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

body ? It is not the mind, nor any part of it. Is 
it not the builder, the animator, and the conserva- 
tor of the body? So we hold. Well I, as a man, 
test the flavor of an orange, and, having a tongue 
provided for my use, I, the man, apply it to the 
juice of the orange, and a specific effect is pro- 
duced, which I call a sensation. The sensation is 
not in the mind ; it is not in the matter of the 
tongue, for matter is matter; it can be nothing 
else, and it is incapable of sensation. The sensa- 
tion called taste is then a vital phenomenon exter- 
nal to mind, and it, together with its significance, 
I, the intellect, the man, cognize. Such is the 
process by which I, as an active, thinking intelli- 
gence, become acquainted with an external world. 
Were it not for this knowledge of something 
external to myself, with which I am associated, I 
would feel myself to be a disembodied spirit. 

§ 7. Idealism and Fatalism Practically Iden- 
tical. 

According to the writers above quoted, there 
is in the universe but one substance ; hence they 
rank themselves as Monists. Materialists hold 
that matter is the only substance ; whereas ideal- 
ists teach that the infinite, whatever that abstrac- 
tion may be, is the only substance. This uni- 
verse, physical and moral, is an appearance, the 
result of "the divine activities," and only "as 
such does the world have any existence." As 
light comes moment by moment from a burning 



THEOLOGY VITIATED. 



233 



Jamp, its source and cause, so this world, with its 
good and evil, its joy and misery, is, in the form 
of an "activity," an emanation from God, and an 
expression of his nature and will. 

Lotze has the candor to confess that the above 
conception of the universe can not be harmonized 
with the existence of sin and evil ; and well he 
may, in the presence of that problem, give up in 
despair. Professor Bowne gives the corruptions 
of the world the go-by as follows : " Whether 
all men shall share in this life [immortality], 
or whether the great mass of spiritual rubbish 
shall cease with death, can not be decided by 
speculation." 

. That is well put. "Spiritual rubbish" is a 
good expression to designate that which has no 
moral character, and which it never, by any pos- 
sibility, could have. But it does not strike us so 
favorably when we remember that this spiritual 
rubbish is the "activity of the Infinite." That, 
however, depends upon what this "infinite" 
stands for. 

With such views of the world, or rather of 
God, who, in the presence of the sins and mis- 
eries of earth, can resist the temptation to find 
refuge in Atheism? Think of the language of 
Chalmers and Dick, and then, if you can, find an 
expression in all that Ingersoll has said, which 
connects the Almighty with the sins and mis- 
eries of the world more intimately than they 

do. The cause of his infidelity he finds in the 

20 



2 34 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 



explanations they give of the world's sins and 
miseries. 

Could theology be purged of the many mon- 
strous accretions it has received from the vain 
speculations of men, the greater part of infidel 
objections to Christianity would disappear. It 
is but seldom that infidels bring objections to 
religion per se ; but in creeds and systems of the- 
ology there is much that can never gain the 
assent of but a small portion of mankind. 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



235 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY OVERTHROWN BY 
MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 

The doctrine of necessity lias a tendency to abate all re- 
sentment against men; since all they do against us is by the 
appointment of God, it is rebellion against him to be offended 
•with them. — Hartley. 

§ 1. The Different Roots of the Doctrine of 
Necessity. 

As we have seen, there are two lines of thought 
which inevitably place us in the vise of necessity, 
or, as Ingersoll says, "bind us to the Promethean 
rocks of fate:" The first is philosophical, and ap- 
plies to the mind the laws of physical and me- 
chanical nature — the adamantine law of cause and 
effect; the second is theological, or rather theo- 
logico-philosophical, and postulates an infinite — 
an infinite Force or Sovereign as the originator 
and cause of all things. The two schemes are 
often interwoven together, the one supplementing 
the other, or buttressing its weak points. A mul- 
titude of accredited, orthodox theologians are as 
deep in the mire of this form of necessity as the 
most aggressive skeptics in the world. Admitting 
that a personal God exists, these different schools 
of thought are compelled to hold that he is the 



236 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 



cause and promoter of sin; and then, to save them- 
selves from the shock of such an aspersion of the 
divine character, they strip sin — on the ground of 
necessity — of its moral turpitude. Ingersoll in- 
dulges in no such refinements, but boldly pleads 
that, if a God exists, the crimes, the sufferings, and 
groans of earth are his work, and must be agree- 
able to him. If such a God could exist, he would 
regard him as an "infinite fiend," and the lesser 
fiends as his best beloved and most faithful serv- 
ants. We confess that if God is the sole, direct, 
and absolute cause of all that is, then sin must be 
included, and Ingersoll's conclusion is logical and 
irreversible. We are not, therefore, so much sur- 
prised that he is an Atheist as that all thinking 
men, who entertain the same opinions, have not 
reached the same conclusion. How the human 
mind can ascribe to God infinite perfections, and 
at the same time affirm that he puts it into the 
minds of men to sin and bring upon themselves 
an eternity of evil, is something we can not under- 
stand. The genius of man could not frame a 
proposition which it would be more difficult for 
us to accept ; and the writings of Ingersoll furnish 
internal proof in abundance that, at one time in 
his life, he was brought face to face with it. His 
philosophy bound him, by the chains of mechan- 
ical law, fast to the rocks of fate, and the terrible 
destiny before him was made doubly sure by the 
purpose and power of an Infinite God. He wanted 
liberty. What could he do? Nature was beyond 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



237 



his reach, and nothing was left to him bnt to 
deny the existence of God as the moral governor 
of the world. 

§ 2. The Ground of Human Responsibility. 

In previous chapters we have pointed out the 
infidel's misconceptions and misreadings of the 
world we live in; and now we propose to show 
that his ideas of God and his moral government 
are far away from the truth — so far from it that 
the God he rejects is not at all the Being we wor- 
ship. He can not reject the god of his imagination 
more energetically than we do. 

We flatter ourselves that we have in hands such 
an array of the undeniable facts of nature, as can 
be wrought into a frame-work of government by 
law, as will render impossible the conception of 
God as in any sense the author or cause of the 
miseries of the world. We expect to show that 
man has been endowed by his Maker with the 
ability, at the same time and under the same cir- 
cumstances, to do either right or wrong, and that 
the moral evil of the world is the result of his bad 
conduct. I am aware that all classes of neces- 
sitarians will most energetically deny these propo- 
sitions, and it is incumbent upon us to enter upon 
a brief exposition of the human will — the base of 
all virtue and responsibility. 

We affirm that it is impossible for God to 
make or compel any intelligent being to be either 
sinful or virtuous or happy. Absurdities, contra- 



2 3 8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



dictions, and lies — multitudes of them — are possi- 
ble in this world, but it is not possible for God to 
be the author of any of them. The Scriptures 
clearly recognize this fact. They say he "can not 
lie," can not be " tempted of evil," "can not deny 
himself," "can not swear by a greater than him- 
self," "can not look upon iniquity;" and in ad- 
dition to these five "can nots," many more might 
be added. 

Thus he can not create two parallel ranges 
of mountains without there being a valley be- 
tween them; he can not make it that a Wash- 
ington never lived, nor can he impart virtue or 
vice to a mechanical, physical, or compulsory act. 
If I put a dagger into the hand of a child, and 
then drive it to her mother's heart, no fault can 
be attached to the child for the deed — I am the 
murderer; and if ' I compel one who has bread to 
feed it to a neighbor who is perishing because of 
hunger, and life is thereby saved, the owner of 
the bread deserves no credit. And why? This 
is the crucial question, and the answer to it should 
be as transparent as the noonday. We then affirm, 
as a fundamental element in the moral govern- 
ment of God, that an act to be virtuous or sinful 
must be an incarnation, or an expression of the pur- 
pose, will, or intention of the being who performs it. 
We neither praise nor blame the hands of a clock 
for the time they mark, because their movements, 
whether correct or not, are mechanical, and utterly 
devoid of purpose or intention. 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



239 



§3. There can be no Escape from the Moral 
Government of God. 

As we go on, let us carry with us the great 
truth that man, with the different ways of right- 
doing and wrong-doing before him, as the subject 
of God's moral government, is compelled — yes, ne- 
cessity, from which there is no escape, is upon 
him — to decide or determine to pursue the one 
way or the other. Compulsion to act is as firm 
as fate. There is no way open before him but 
the line of moral responsibility ; for neutral ground 
there is none. The moment we leave the terri- 
tory of right, we enter the world of wrong. If the 
government of God were so that in some cases 
men were compelled to choose the path of virtue 
or crime, the world might be benefited or injured 
thereby; but all such acts would be mechanical, 
and without a moral character. 

That the reader may the more clearly see the 
doctrine we antagonize, as presented from a theo- 
logical stand-point, we will spread it before the 
reader in the language of Dr. Dick. He says: 

"Those actions are free which are the effects 
of volition. [The primary question refers to the 
origin of the volition.] In whatever manner the 
state of mind which gave rise to volition has 
been produced, the liberty of the agent is neither 
greater nor less. It is his will alone which is to 
be considered, and not the means by which it has 
been determined. If God foreordained certain 



240 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



actions, and placed men in that position that the 
actions would certainly take place, agreeably to 
the laws of the mind, men are nevertheless moral 
agents, because they act voluntarily, and are re- 
sponsible for the actions which consent has made 
their own. Liberty does not consist in the power 
of acting or not acting, but in acting from choice. 
The choice is determined by something in the 
mind itself, or by something external influencing 
the mind; but, whatever is the cause, the choice 
makes the action free and the agent accountable. 
If this definition be admitted, you will perceive 
that it is possible to reconcile the freedom of the 
will with absolute decrees, but we have not got 
rid of every difficulty; for by this theory human 
actions appear to be as necessary as the motions 
of matter according to the laws of gravitation 
and attraction; and man seems to be a machine, 
conscious of his movements and consenting to 
them, but impelled by something different from 
himself." * 

Dr. Dick is only one of hundreds who have 
worked at this problem, and all have reached the 
conclusion that God puts into the minds of men 
their thoughts and wills, and that human freedom 
consists in having an ability to work out into 
practice the wills which are thus forced upon 
them. As whatever is in man's mind is there by 
compulsion, he is no more responsible for it than 



* Lectures on Theology. 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



241 



he is for the blood that is in his veins or the mar- 
row that is in his bones. It is thus that the 
doctrine locates man outside the limits of right 
and wrong, and strips the world of the glory of 
its moral character. 

To be a moral intelligence, a man must be 
placed above the reach of the mechanical law of 
cause and effect. He himself must be a self- 
centered origin and cause of moral action; and 
man is conscious, be his speculative theology and 
philosophy what they may, that he is endowed 
with such a power. This consciousness he mani- 
fests in his regard for his own behavior, and in 
the judgment he passes upon the conduct of 
others. The voice of humanity is more impera- 
tive than his logic. 

§ 4. The Different Powers or Departments of 
the Mind. 

Gradually, since the days of Bishop Butler, 
the world is coming to accept the Pauline concep- 
tion of man — a Mind dwelling in an earthly tab- 
ernacle. Regarding, then, the Mind as the man 
proper, we propose to institute an examination of 
the powers he possesses. We shall, however, for 
the sake of greater distinctness, adopt the termi- 
nology of Professor Upham, and treat it as a unit 
in which three departments or powers may be 
distinguished — Intellect, Will, and Feeling. This 
conception of man, or Mind, is now nearly, if not 
quite, universal among psychologists, though 

21 



242 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



there may be some variation in the terms in 
which it is expressed. 

Intellect is the workshop of thought. There 
all the thinking, perceiving, comparing, judging, 
considering, musing, reasoning, imagining, etc., 
are done, and intellect can do nothing but in 
some way handle ideas. 

Feeling can not frame a thought nor touch an 
idea. It is altogether another power or depart- 
ment of the mind, and embraces a wide field of 
mental action of its own. If human feelings 
could be taken from man, he would be a creature 
of another order. Love, hate, joy, grief, desire, 
aversion, hope, fear, ecstasy, remorse, and despair 
are feelings of the mind, and they constitute a 
large part of human experience. 

Sensibilities constitute an experience of an- 
other class. They are touch, taste, smell, etc., 
and originate in the life of the sense organs. As 
the organs of sense, whether in the form of bone, 
muscle, tissue, or nerve, are matter, and nothing 
but the most ordinary kind of matter, sensation 
can no more originate in them than in a stick or 
stone. A sensation, then, must be a local, vital 
phenomenon, cognized as such by the mind; hence 
a sensation is not a mental phenomenon, but some- 
thing objective, which the mind cognizes, and 
whose significance it by experience learns. This 
knowledge is immediate, and it is the mind's first and 
nearest cognition of an external world. An over- 
sight of these departments of physiology, and its 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



243 



related psychology, is the only excuse that can 
be rendered for the existence of idealistic phi- 
losophy. 

In Will there is neither thought, nor feeling, 
nor sensibility, nor any mental action except a 
pure purpose or intention, having reference to a 
contemplated action — to do this or that, to act or 
not to act. 

That we may see the more clearly the pure 
action of the Will, let us isolate it from all the 
other powers of the mind, and examine it solely 
in the light of its own functions. The word 
choice is freely used by all writers on the mind, 
one class affirming that man has the power of 
choice, and the other denying it; and probably 
there is not another word in our language which 
has carried anywhere so much confusion as this 
word has brought into the discussion of man's 
free agency. The meaning of the word is equiv- 
ocal, and in one of its significations it means too 
much. It may, and often does, express an intel- 
lectual preference, and such preference is not at 
all an act of the will. Our preferences are intel- 
lectual, and subject to the law of necessity. The 
farmer necessarily chooses or prefers to see his fields 
covered in the month of June with the growing 
harvest rather than with a fall of snow. When 
the word choice will admit of this construction, 
the fatalist is right. A hungry family would nec- 
essarily choose — that is, prefer — a loaf to a crumb 
of bread ; and yet if the crumb were their own, 



244 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



and it would be a theft to use the loaf, they might 
wll or determine to use only the crumb. Such 
determination would be an act of pure will in op- 
position to the necessitated choice as an intellect- 
ual preference. Then, for the sake of clearness 
and precision, it would be well to expel the word 
choice from the discussion of the free agency of 
the mind. 

§5. The Relation of Motives to the Mind. 

But great minds, through many generations, 
in different countries, have labored to prove that 
the action of the will is subject to the power of 
the strongest motives which are brought to bear 
upon it. Nothing more shallow, plausible, and 
influential has ever been said on the subject. (1.) 
The conception is materialistic, and supposes that 
the mind is governed by mechanical law, like a 
pair of scales. (2.) It is a virtual and absolute 
denial of the existence of the will as a special 
part or power of the mind. (3.) Motives can 
have no direct bearing upon the will, for they are 
reasons or considerations addressed to the percep- 
tion and judgment. In all the affairs of life, what- 
ever course a man may take, he should be able to 
refer to motives as reasons for his conduct. The 
notion either annihilates the will or confounds it 
with intellect, and in either case it is invalid. 

But men do not always act wisely; for they 
yield to the sway of passion, appetite, and feeling, 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



245 



and, as a consequence, are led to wrong-doing. 
In such cases, is not will necessarily overborne by 
a stronger force? I answer, No. In such cases 
will does not act at all. Very likely it is dor- 
mant, or in nearly a rudimentary state. There 
may be a fierce conflict between conscience, which 
inclines to the right, and passion, which inclines 
to the wrong; but will, if fairly well developed, 
being an entirely different power of the mind, is 
incapable of sympathy with either. Reason has 
handed down to the will its decision of right and 
wrong in action — of what should and what should 
not be done — and now will has in hand the awful 
responsibility of determining what shall be done. 
If will determines for the right, an act of virtue 
has been performed ; if for the wrong, a vice has 
been perpetrated. 

§6. The Mind is a Source of Energy. 

"The ancients," said Leibnitz, "attributed 
the cause of evil to matter; but where shall we, 
who derive all things from God, find the source 
of evil?" As his answer to his own question af- 
fords us no relief whatever, we will try our own 
hand at it. We admit that God is the creator 
of all substances that exist, whether material, 
vital, mental, or spiritual ; but we deny point- 
blank that he is the author of the abuses, or of the 
consequences of the abuses, to which any part of 
his creation has been subjected. In giving to 



246 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



the universe a moral character, it became neces- 
sary for him to place in it intelligent beings, who 
should possess in themselves the source of moral 
action. Man's qualification to do right, necessa- 
rily involved the ability to do wrong. Right do- 
ing was the right using of his faculties, and wrong 
doing was the abuse of them. This abuse of what 
was good is not from God. In whatever of evil 
that has ever proceeded from that abuse of good, 
his glory was not involved. There is a glory of 
the sun, another glory of the moon, another of 
the stars, and another of man ; and if in any case 
his glory is tarnished or turned to shame, it is 
man's own doing. God forces upon man neither 
a good nor a bad action, and all the volitional 
actions of the mind are its own, with either 
their glory or shame. It is either blasphemy or 
philosophical idiocy for Leibnitz to say that 
purposes to steal, to slander, to commit perjury, 
to murder, etc., are things or acts derived from 
God ; such acts are blessings abused. 

To avoid the conclusions we have reached, ne- 
cessitarians have been compelled either to blot 
out the will or confound it with feeling. Spinoza 
obliterates it, and Edwards classifies it as a feeling. 
But the analysis of the mind made by the French 
psychologists has been so clear, and their appeal 
to consciousness so instructive, that the distinc- 
tions intellect, will, and feeling are now so fully 
recognized that the old Edwardsian expositions 
are utterly discredited and obsolete. 



MAN'S FREE AGENCY. 



247 



§7. Thk Aspect of Government from the 
Stand-point of Free Will. 

If we abandon fatalism in all its forms, 
whether of Pantheism, Materialism, Idealism, or 
Divine Agency, then a moral world will take its 
place, so different in its constrnction that it will 
appear as a new creation ; then every atom will 
be recognized as an individual thing and as a 
source of mechanical energy. This principle will 
be extended to the matter of the universe, and 
man, a moral being, will be regarded as existing 
on a higher plane and in another sphere, subject 
to other laws, having self-directive power in the 
realm of right and wrong, and responsible for his 
conduct. 

§ 8. Should the Hazards of Possible Sin have 
been taken and man created? 

The Atheist may ' admit the conclusions we 
have reached, and, falling back a few steps, in- 
trench himself upon the ground that a God of in- 
finite perfections would not have created a moral 
universe, because the hazards of the venture were 
so great and so terrible. He should not have cre- 
ated anything he could not, in harmony with his 
own nature, absolutely control. Man should not 
have been made if the possibility of virtue car- 
ried with it the possibility of vice. In other 
words, creation should have risen no higher than 
the dog, the horse, the elephant, and the monkey. 



248 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

This is a great question for the weak mind of 
man to discuss. Were his capacity enlarged a 
thousand-fold, I doubt if he could do it justice. 
There have been pure, noble, and grand men in 
the world, and we have no doubt that the number 
of such is to be so great that only the Divine 
Mind can count them. In a well-regulated State's- 
prison we see proof that the State has good laws, 
an incorruptible judiciary, faithful officers, and a 
protected people. The odium rests upon the head 
of the wrong-doer, and his conscience unites with 
the constitution of the universe and says: "This 
should be so. I am but reaping as I sowed." 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 249 



CHAPTER XVII. 

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY FURTHER CONSIDERED. 

Ye, who love, 
Do so each cause refer to heaven above, 
E'en as its motion of necessity 
Drew with it all that moves. If this were so, 
Free choice in you were none; nor justice would 
There should be joy for virtue, woe for ill. 

—Dante. 

§ 1. The Argument stated. 

In the preceding chapter an attempt has been 
made to drive Atheism from the refuge it has 
found in the scheme of necessity, by setting forth 
the freedom of the will, and, as a resultant, man's 
responsibility for his conduct. In the form of 
government we present, it was made clear that, 
in no sense, is God the author of sin, or of any 
evil resulting therefrom; and that man, the cul- 
pable wrong-doer, might have walked in the ways 
of righteousness and reaped a harvest of blessed- 
ness. This argument is of prime importance; it 
is not easily grasped by the general reader; and 
as it leaves the Atheism of Ingersoll, in its main 
branch, without any support, it may be well for us 
to recapitulate its main points and amplify them a 
little further. 



250 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 2. The Basal Elements of Man's Account- 
ability. 

1. We are compelled to see that, when man is 
brought face to face with right and wrong, he 
must pursue the one or the other; that he can 
not remain inactive or take a middle course. 
Hence it is manifest that necessity is laid upon 
us to regard him as always under moral gov- 
ernment. 

2. Man's judgment acts under the law of ne- 
cessity, and he is compelled to decide questions 
according to the facts or reason of the case. He 
can not hold that five dollars are equal to ten 
dollars, or that one dollar should pay a ten-dollar 
debt. His judgment is not, therefore, when cor- 
rect, to be classed among the virtues; nor when 
in error, as a vice. In all cases, it is man's duty 
to seek proper information, but this is a matter 
of will. 

3. Feeling and sensibility play an important 
part in the affairs of human life, but as they are 
subject to the law of necessity, they do not form 
the basis of responsibility. That a hungry man 
desires bread, and rejoices in its possession, is what 
we might expect from our knowledge of cause and 
effect. When we see him manifest such feelings, 
we give him neither praise nor blame. There is 
no reason why we should, as the meritorious and 
moral elements are not involved. Sensations are 
partly physical and partly vital, and come under 



HUMAN RESP0NSIBILI1 V. 251 

the law of necessity. I am not in any way re- 
sponsible for the sensation that is awakened by 
the taste of an orange, because in that experience 
I am wholly passive. It is not my fault that the 
taste of an apple and an orange are not alike. 
My joy at the birth and grief at the death of a 
child are not sins, for they are emotional ne- 
cessities. 

4. Motives are of the nature of reasons or con- 
siderations for action in one way and not in an- 
other; they are addressed to the judgment, and 
their direct influence goes no further; they do not 
touch the will, though they may reach the feelings. 
Motives can be brought to bear directly upon the 
will only as we form a materialistic conception of 
it, subject to force or pressure from without — like 
weights on scales, or, not to be too coarse, the at- 
tractions or repulsions of a magnet. 

5. The will is a power or part of the mind 
which is wholly distinct from intellect, feeling, and 
sensibility. It does not in the least partake of their 
nature, and hence does not come under the law of 
necessity, by which they are governed. It is not 
the thinking or feeling, but the determining power 
of the mind in matters of action. As all psychol- 
ogists, since the days of Comte, have recognized 
the three distinctions of power or faculty in 
the mind — known as Intellect, Will, and Feel- 
ing — we have, without argument, availed ourselves 
of this conception of it as a settled truth. Man 
may act automatically, or he may act from the 



252 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



impulse of feeling, but all the actions of the will 
are self-originated and self-directed. The will is 
a fountain or a primal source of action; all its 
acts are self-originated. In this respect man is 
exempt from the law of cause and effect as it ex- 
ists in the material and vital worlds. In binding 
nature fast in fate, God left free the human will. 

6. The Creator has invested the will with the 
awful power and responsibility — after the decisions 
of the judgment have been rendered — of perform- 
ing the right or perpetrating the wrong in action. 
Kant speaks from a consciousness' of the true 
nature and office of the will when he says: " When- 
ever I am in one of two positions I tremble, — one 
is, when I have a view of the vastness of the uni- 
verse; the other, when I reflect that I may do 
wrong." The will is the imperial power, and 
decides what shall be done or what shall not be 
done. A determination of the will to act for the 
right is a virtue in the person so determining, 
and a determination to act for the wrong is a vice 
in the person so determining. Such is the source 
and origin of human virtue and vice, and they can 
have no other source or origin. 

7. It was through this door that sin, with all 
its train of evils and sorrows, entered into the 
world. Had man been created all intellect, and 
of so high an order that he would have always 
thought right and never made a mistake, he pos- 
sibly might have been an interesting character or 
machine, but he would not have been *a moral 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 



253 



being; or had he been intellect and feeling — a 
ship without rudder or pilot — and feeling had 
been as pure and uniform as his intellect was cor- 
rect, and he had been placed in some moral cur- 
rent, beyond the reach of temptation or the neces- 
sity of a struggle, that would sweep him onward 
without the possibility of failure to his destined 
goal, still he would not have been a ihoral being, 
any more than a good pine-log borne to the gulf 
on the bosom of the Mississippi. 

8. Morality is always the act of the will, in 
cases where an election is to be made between 
performing the right or the wrong ; and in all 
such cases either course is possible. The contin- 
uous election of the right, followed by faithful 
practice, results in the formation of a strong and 
permanent habit of right-doing; and this habit of 
virtue becomes in man his character-column, not 
easily shaken or crushed. The continuous elec- 
tion of wrong-doing, followed by a willing and 
greedy practice, results in the habits of vice; and 
these habits crystallize into a bad character, not 
easily changed. Morally, good or bad, the man is 
what he makes himself. Character is a growth ; 
and man, good or bad, is what he grows to be. 
The harvest will be like the seed he sows. 

9. The human will, then, and not the Infinite 
God, has ever been the fountain from which has 
flowed forth the opposite and contrary streams 
of virtue and vice in all ages of human history ; 
the one a magnificent current, enriching and 



254 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



beautifying everything that came within its reach ; 
the other, of Stygian blackness, a gehenna of cor- 
ruption, and covered with the vapor of hell. 

10. As neither virtue nor vice can possibly 
exist anywhere as a matter of compulsion, with- 
out the endowments of the will above described, 
man could not be a moral being ; and, in that case, 
the great end of his creation would disappear. 
Experience, observation, consciousness, and the 
cold laws of logic demand that man, the evil doer, 
should be responsible for the wrong he does ; and 
to ascribe the blame due to him to the Almighty, 
is worse than fiendish — it is blasphemy. Could 
we not see so clearly the source and cause of sin 
in man, there might be some excuse for error; 
but as the case stands, there is none. 

§ 3. The Nature of Virtue. 

For the sake of the illustration it will afford, 
let us go into the garden of Eden, and, if possible, 
obtain a nearer and a clearer view of the nature 
of virtue and ground of responsibility. Man was 
created a rational, thinking, upright being, capa- 
ble of knowing God and admiring his works. 
This, so far, was "good," very good. But there 
may be suns and stars, and earth and reason — all 
"good;" but not the kind of good known as 
virtue. A whole galaxy of excellencies might be 
brought together, and virtue not be among them. 
Belief of a kind may be associated with reason, 
and still virtue be wanting; for "the devils 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 



255 



believe and tremble." We may go further, and add 
to the intelligence of the first man feelings and 
sensibilities of the purest order ; and whilst these 
are also "good," they cannot be considered as 
virtues ; virtue, as we use the term, being the an- 
tithesis of sin. Intellect and feeling are constitu- 
tional elements, things created, but virtue can 
not be made for one person by another. A "good " 
watch, a "good" knife, and a "good" engine can 
be made ; but to such pieces of machinery the 
quality of virtue can not be ascribed. 

Right and wrong, as objects of consideration, 
were in the world before man was made ; the 
moral element involved was among the first things 
which arrested his attention, and so long as his 
will was firmly and steadily bent on doing the. 
right, his virtue increased in strength ; but when 
he determined to do wrong by an act of disobe- 
dience, virtue was crushed and sin became ascend- 
ant. Virtue comes out of, or rather comes to, us 
through the right action of the will, and vice is 
the result of wrong action, as surely and as inevita- 
bly as the operation of the law of gravitation. 
We may summarize what has been said as fol- 
lows : Intellect — thought, reason, perception, im- 
agination, judgment, etc. ; and these, though some- 
times correct, but often mistakes, are not virtues, 
for they are necessities. Feeling and sensibility — 
love, joy, hate, hope, sorrow, taste, smell, touch, 
etc. ; and these, though in the aggregate they may 
be a mixture of the good and bad, are not virtues, 



256 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



for they are necessitated. Will — the purpose, the 
determination, the resolve to do the right, is the 
only faculty which possesses a moral quality ; this 
is virtue, and the opposite is vice. 

§ 4. The Futile Discussions of the Will with 
a False Psychology. 

With a correct psychology before us, it is a 
simple and easy matter to set forth the freedom 
of the will and man's responsibility for his con- 
duct. Why, then, from the days of the Stoics to 
the present time, has the question of man's free 
agency, and consequent accountability, engaged 
the attention of the greatest thinkers the world 
has ever produced without reaching an agree- 
ment? We answer, Until within the past half 
century the science of psychology was unknown. 
In the days of Edwards this science amounted to 
nothing, and, as a result, his work on the Will 
is probably the most consummate blending of 
strength and weakness, of keenness and obtuse- 
ness of intellect, and of truth and error, that was 
ever written. He had not the faintest conception 
of what the will is, as now seen in the light of 
science. From the first to the last of his book he 
worked in chaos, and there he left his readers. 
Regarding the will sometimes as a fancy, then as 
•a feeling, then as a sensation, but never as a self- 
originating, determining power in the field of 
action, he gives us no light whatever on the subject. 
He commenced the discussion as a necessitarian, 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 



257 



as if all things were by God, though controlled by 
physical and mechanical law, utterly oblivious to 
the different character of the facts and laws of 
mind. Above this was the sovereignty of God, 
and his omnipotence extended to every thought 
and feeling and act of the human mind. In the 
absence of settled scientific principles in regard to 
the mind, to which absolute allegiance must be 
paid, he wrote as if he had a roving commission 
to make the mind what suited him best. His 
work was an incubus, which the ages following 
have been laboring to throw off. They have so 
far succeeded that only antediluvian thinkers at 
the present day show his work any respect, except 
for its transcendent ability. 

Edwards's work on the Will went far to lay the 
foundation of the infidelity of David Hume. Most 
students of psychology have mixed the study of 
books with the study of mind, and the outcome 
has been more or less confusion. A special apti- 
tude for this branch of science is as necessary to 
success as it is for the study of music. But the 
science is progressing, and never more rapidly 
than at present. 

With a psychology that is rigidly correct — as cor- 
rect in its facts and terminology as are required by 
geometry — there is no trouble in tracing the powers 
of the mind and their logical relations. For such 
work the Stoics, Leibnitz, Hume, and Edwards, 
had no chart or compass ; they confounded ele- 
ments which have nothing in common, and in the 

22 



258 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



resultant chaos the ground of human responsi- 
bility was covered up and lost to view. 

§ 5. The Calamities of a Bad Education. 

Having in early life been caught by the rush- 
ing tide of a false theology, supplemented by the 
current of a false philosophy, and psychology be- 
ing an unknown science, it is not strange that a 
man of IngersolPs ability and temperament should 
become impaled upon the crags of Atheism, and 
feel that he was "a Prometheus lashed to the 
rocks of fate." 

Colonel Ingersoll has for many years received 
unstinted praise as a rhetorician, and what is 
withheld from him as a thinker is fully awarded 
as a borrower; but it is a mistake to suppose that 
he is exclusively indebted to infidel writers for his 
choicest thoughts. Let us suppose that, in a su- 
preme effort to reason out of existence the theory 
that a God exists, in his own way, with all his 
rhetorical flourishes and fancy colorings, he ex- 
presses the following sentiments, can anything be 
found, in all that he has ever said or written, that 
is more revolting? 

" Since mind can not act any more than mat- 
ter without a divine agency, it is absurd to sup- 
pose that men can be left to the freedom of their 
own will to act or not to act independently of di- 
vine influence. There must be, therefore, the ex- 
ercise of a divine agency in every human action, 
without which it is impossible to conceive that 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 259 



God should govern moral agents, and make man- 
kind act in perfect conformity to his desig?is. . . . 
He is now exercising his powerful and irresistible 
agency upon the heart of every one of the human 
race, and producing either holy or unholy exercises 
in it. . . . It is often thought and said that 
nothing more was necessary on God's part in or- 
der to fit Pharaoh for destruction than barely 
leave him to himself. But God knew that no ex- 
ternal means and motives would be sufficient of 
themselves to form his moral character. He de- 
termined, therefore, to operate on his heart itself, 
and cause him to put forth certain evil exercises 
in view of certain external motives. When Moses 
called upon him to let the people go, God stood 
by him and moved him to refuse. When the peo- 
ple departed from his kingdom, God stood by him 
and moved him to pursue after them with in- 
creased malice and revenge. And what God did 
on such particular occasions, he did at all times." 

Did the lips of Colonel Ingersoll ever express 
sentiments more blasphemous and revolting than 
are contained in the above language, carefully writ- 
ten by Dr. Emmons, a New England clergyman? 
And yet page after page might be filled to the 
same effect from the writings of Emmons, Chal- 
mers, Dick, Edwards, McCosh, Hodge, and others. 
Such language, falling from the lips of these great 
divines, has the smack of pious cant which has 
done much to give the doctrine of necessity cur- 
rency in the world ; but the same conceptions of 



26o ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



God, dressed in the garb of scorn and blasphemy 
by Ingersoll, excite our contempt, and we reject 
him as well as his words. It is this conception 
of God obtained from the system of theology in 
which he was educated, supported by the philos- 
ophy he had embraced, which lies at the basis of 
his Atheism. 

Edwards closes with an air of triumph an 
elaborate argument on this question as follows : 

"Is it not better that the good and evil which 
happens in God's world should be ordered, regu- 
lated, bounded, and determined by the good pleas- 
ure of an infinitely wise Being than to leave these 
things to fall out by chance, and to be determined 
by those causes which have no understanding in 
them?" For one I answer, No. If you want me 
to believe in the existence of God, you must not 
present him to me as ordering and regulating 
theft, injustice, debauchery, drunkenness, false- 
hood, perjury, hatred, cruelty, murder, and other 
crimes beneath which creation groans. 

I prefer to take the world as I find it, and 
hold the guilty parties responsible for the crimes 
they commit. If Pharaoh moved simply as he 
was acted upon by the Almighty, and Moses did 
the same, pray tell us wherein was either deserv- 
ing of praise or blame? As for me, I am sure 
that, with such antecedents, I would as willingly 
stand in the judgment in the shoes of the one as 
the other. Instead of being surprised that In- 
gersoll is an Atheist, the wonder is that any one 



HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 



261 



who holds to the doctrine of necessity can be any- 
thing else? 

We are familiar with the multitude of efforts 
which have been made to harmonize free will and 
man's responsibility, on the one hand, with the 
"ordering, regulating, bounding, and determin- 
ing" of man's sins by the divine Being, on the 
other; and all such efforts but remind us that it 
is impossible that a figure can at the same time 
possess the form of a square and a circle. No 
truth can be clearer than this : If the state or dis- 
position of the will is derived from God, then God 
is the cause and author of the act that follows 
from it. These authors mock us when they affirm 
that nothing takes place without the action of God 
as the moving cause, and then deny that he is the 
author of sin. Why hold man responsible for his 
sins since he is as passive therein as he is for the 
beating of his heart? The only freedom allowed 
to man is the freedom an engine possesses to 
move according to its internal mechanism — he is 
simply allowed to act out the will of God, good 
or bad, as the case may be. If the doctrine is 
true, this is not a moral world. 

The voice of humanity, prolonged through all 
the ages of history, which voice is the voice of 
God speaking through man, has rendered a ver- 
dict on this subject, which is : 

1. That a necessitated act is without moral 
character. The act may be good or bad in differ- 
ent ways, but the moral element is wanting to it. 



262 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



2. For intentional wrong-doing man deserves, 
and must necessarily receive, punishment ; that 
is, he must suffer the consequences. 

The man or woman whose debaucheries have 
rendered either of them morally or physically 
loathsome to society, can find no fault or ground 
of complaint if abandoned to misery and contempt. 
After every palliating circumstance has been 
weighed, the residuum of judgment left will be 
that the sufferer is but reaping the seed sown by 
his own hand. 

Every system of government, its civil jurispru- 
dence included, that was ever founded among 
men, rested upon the basis of man's responsibility 
for his conduct. 

3. It is also the verdict of humanity that well- 
doing deserves credit and should receive applause. 

In judging others, either to approve or to con- 
demn, man is governed by a law, written upon his 
own heart, which can not be eradicated ; conscious 
that where there is right there might have been 
wrong, and where there is wrong there might 
have been right, he praises or condemns in ac- 
cordance with the act done. 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 263 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE POWER OF CHARACTER IN THE MORAL WORLD. 

Virtue 

Stands like the sun, and all which rolls around 
Drinks life and light and glory from her aspect. 

— Byron. 

When consternation turns the good man pale, 
Where, where, for shelter, shall the guilty fly? 

— Young. 

§ 1. Man as seen from the Stand-point of 
Necessity. 

Having explored trie prison-house of fate, and 
found it a fancy structure, the important task re- 
mains of leading out the captives, taking off their 
shackles, and clothing them in the robes of duty 
and responsibility. A man lashed to the wild- 
horse of passion, or, like Prometheus, fastened to 
the rocks of fate, is a poor, pitiable creature, pre- 
senting to the universe a life that is not worth liv- 
ing; but man as a chief factor in the moral uni- 
verse, holding in his own hands a destiny which is 
the result of his own acts, and which may exalt 
him to immortal greatness or overwhelm him with 
indescribable infamy, is quite another being. In 
infidelity we see the one picture of humanity, and 
in Christianity the other. 

From the stand-point we have at last attained, 



264 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



the merits and dements of conduct, and the neces- 
sary outflow from character, good or bad, can be 
distinctly seen. The lurid pictures which Inger- 
soll delights to draw of the agonies and tortures 
the supposed God wantonly inflicts upon the 
damned, are revolting to the last degree, and prin- 
cipally because, if they contained a shade of truth, 
the Infinite One would be implicated in an infamy 
that is deeper than the depths of hell. He can 
find no justification of his Atheism, only in the 
wild and extravagant caricatures he is able to give 
of God and man's eternity. 

As a necessitarian he can have but the faintest 
conception of merit and demerit, or the greatness, 
the value, and the inevitable results of a self-built 
character. The thought seems to aggravate him 
that the same blessedness does not attend the right- 
eous and the wicked; both characters, as he con- 
ceives, being creatures of necessity. The idea of 
future rewards and punishments he can not endure 
for a moment. The antidote for all this ranting 
and raving, whether from the platform or in 
pamphlets or magazines, must be found, not in the 
action of the Almighty, but in the consideration 
of the inevitable effects of the conduct of a free 
and responsible man. 

§ 2. Morai, Law in the Spiritual Kingdom. 

Let us recall the fact that the world is governed 
by law, and that the specific law of each depart- 
ment thereof is at the same time an expression of 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 265 



the will of God as well as of the nature of the 
thing governed. If the waters of the globe, through 
all the ages of the past, have remained unchanged, 
it is because natural law, in the formation of the 
molecule, is now exactly what it has ever been. 
As we rise in the scale of being to man, the inflex- 
ible and imperative character of moral law becomes 
more apparent. As a moral being and under moral 
government, when in the presence of duty or of 
right and wrong, man mzcst act — there can be no 
escape. All who try to avoid responsibility meet 
with no better success than Pilate did with Christ 
at his bar. The atoms of oxygen and hydrogen, 
under natural law, can give us the water, and noth- 
ing more; but men, as spirit intelligences, acting 
according to moral law, and aided by the Divine 
Spirit, develop, out of the deep and rich resources 
of their own being, wisdom and power and glory 
and immortality. But if the same men determine 
to antagonize moral law,' they outrage their own 
nature; they suicidally lay upon it the hand of 
violence, and, as a consequence, bring upon them- 
selves, as evil-doers, judgment, condemnation, trib- 
ulation, and anguish. In these terrible and ex- 
treme results there is, as cause, nothing but the 
different relations the parties have chosen to sus- 
tain to a moral government. 

§3. The Mind's Capacity for Joy or Wok. 

It is a mighty stride from an atom to a man, 
and yet it is a stride from material littleness to 

23 



266 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



moral vastness. Man may carry his greatness 
into the realm of the intelligent, the spiritual, 
the lovely, and the beautiful, or he may array 
himself against truth and justice and right; he 
may turn away from the lovely, the good, and the 
beneficent, and the vacuum caused by the absence 
of positive excellencies will be supplied by nega- 
tive evils, such as falsehood, injustice, carnality, 
and things hateful and hideous ; but in either case 
the superior capacity of man is apparent In es- 
sence humanity can not change ; but in the modi- 
fications of its development, it is capable of taking 
on an indefinite number of shades of character. 
In this respect man is in harmony with nature, 
of which he forms a part. Carbon, loosely put 
together, forms charcoal, stone-coal, plumbago, 
lamp-black, and many other substances; but sub- 
ject it to the action of crystallization, and it forms 
the bright, flashing diamond. The nature or es- 
sence of the substance, however, has not changed, 
for the diamond may be changed into lamp- 
black. Aluminium, the substance bricks are made 
of, when crystallized with oxygen, becomes the 
beautiful ruby. Human nature is subject to 
changes and modifications equally marked, and 
the consequences must be correspondingly great. 
The beautiful, affectionate boy Nero became a 
monster, and killed his mother. Once Arnold may 
have been as pure a patriot as Washington; and 
when chosen, Judas was as worthy as John to be 
a disciple of Christ. The devout and deeply spir- 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 267 



itual Henry Kirke White was once a noisy infidel, 
and men found the lowest down in the drunkard's 
glitter were once worthy ministers of the gospel. 
Mary Magdalene became a model of purity and 
spirituality. We thus see that the possibilities 
of human nature, for either the good or the bad, 
are immense. It may sink to the profoundest 
depths of degradation, or it may rise to the most 
commanding heights of excellency, and the mis- 
ery is as inevitable in the one case as the felicity 
in the other. In both cases we see exemplified 
nothing but the moral law of cause and effect — a 
law which, at the same time, contains an expres- 
sion of the nature of the thing governed and of the 
wisdom and will of God. 

§ 4. Truth is obscured by the Present Mixed 
Condition of Things. 

There is in this life such a mixture and com- 
mingling of the good and the bad of all possible 
shades, that it is not easy to form an opinion from 
society, as we see it, of the possible and legitimate 
outcome of mere character. Let us suppose that 
the bad of every grade and hue — the unjust, the 
false, the impure, the thief, the highwayman, the 
robber, the gambler, the inebriate, the deceiver, 
the traitor, the perjurer, the murderer, etc. — were 
removed from all the diversions of business, poli- 
tics, amusement, and learning, such as society af- 
fords, and were brought together on some im- 
mense island, and there abandoned, without law 



268 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



or government, to the free working of their own 
depravities, — what would be the result? Among 
such a mass of human beings, each would per- 
ceive the worthlessness of all the others in the 
light of his own character, and mutual respect 
would be impossible. There would be no ground 
anywhere for reverence or love. An all-ingulfing 
selfishness in each one would render impossible 
good-will toward any. In the absence of the 
force and moral restraints of government ; of the 
baton, brass buttons, etc., of the policeman; the 
ever-wakeful eye of society, with its millions of 
property to care for ; the church-steeple, the toll- 
ing bell, and the fear of God, — each individual of 
the bold and reckless mass would feel at liberty 
to act out to its fullest extent the character he had 
formed. A consciousness of degradation, in the 
absence of all hope for the future, like a vulture, 
would prey upon every heart. For the lack of a 
capacity to receive gladness, there could be no in- 
gress of joys from without. In the make-up of 
human nature the moral element is the main ingre- 
dient. It is the key-stone of the arch of charac- 
ter, and its fall ingulfs the spirit in ruins. The 
fiery fever in the blood is not so distressing to the 
vital organism as is the inward sense of wrong 
and degradation, which ever cleaves, like a moral 
leprosy, to the soul of the unjust and the vile. 
Each one associated only with its kind, there 
could be in such a society no generosity, no sym- 
pathy, no fellowship, no confidence; but rather 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 269 

malice, Hatred, and revenge would prevail. The 
pictures given us by the poet and the novelist of 
the inward history of the profligate are generally 
true to the letter. He is represented as an utter 
stranger to the delights of an honorable life. As 
he knows nothing about them, they have no at- 
tractions for him, and his sordid nature is inca- 
pable of reciprocating the good faith and fair 
dealings of others. He can no more live contrary 
to the law of his ignoble passions and appetites 
that the thistle can grow figs or the leopard 
change its spots. We utterly forget the nature 
of law if we suppose that such a low, creeping 
creature can know or enjoy anything of the nature 
of real legitimate human happiness. Such men 
have in hand the bitter fruits of their own misdo- 
ing, and they must eat them. In the conviction 
of their own worthlessness, which they carry 
hourly wherever they go, we may see the begin- 
ning of whatever wretchedness there is to come. 
In forfeited respect they feel that they have lost 
their most valuable earthly inheritance. 

In the writings of a profound philosophical 
thinker I find the following terrible words : 

"The loathing and remorse, the felt and con- 
scious degradation, the dreariness of heart that 
follow in the train of guilty indulgence here, — 
these form but the beginning of sorrows, and are 
but the presages and precursors of that deeper 
wretchedness which, by an unrepealed law of 
moral nature, the same character will entail on 



2/0 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



its possessor in another state of being. They 
are but the penalties of vice in embryo, and they 
may give at least the conception of what are 
these penalties in full. It will add — it will add 
inconceivably to the darkness and disorder of that 
moral chaos in which the impenitent shall spend 
their eternity — where the uproar of the baccha- 
nalian and the licentious emotions are thus super- 
added to the selfish and malignant passions of our 
nature, and where the frenzy of unsated desire, 
followed up by the languor and compensation of its 
worthless indulgence, shall make up the sad his- 
tory of many an unhappy spirit."* 

§ 5. The Union of Liberty and L,aw in the For- 
mation of Character. 

As we find the element of moral right and 
wrong solely among human beings they only 
possess the ability to select the one and reject the 
other. And even this freedom is preceded and 
followed by an iron necessity. In the presence 
of a right and a wrong act, we must determine 
to pursue the one or the other; and, be our de- 
termination which it may, moral* results must 
follow. I repeat, act we must, and the effects of 
the act are inevitable ; man can determine only 
what the act shall be. The nature of the act 
determines the result. 

Man is like the rest of nature, only out of the 



* Chalmers. 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 



271 



character which he forms will arise the laws of 
his destiny, good or bad. The world to come is 
but a continuance of this in a somewhat modified 
form. The character we form here will be our 
individuality there ; and heaven can be nothing 
but its outcome, favored with suitable environ- 
ments. And, on the other hand, the retributions 
of the wicked will be but the necessary outcome 
of the moral nature they carry into eternity, and 
the environments into which such a nature must 
drift. They must receive the wages of sin, be- 
cause for that they worked. Payment must be 
made and accepted according to law and agree- 
ment. Everything there will be, in another form, 
the intentions here worked out. The well-cul- 
tured ground embraced within the law of liberty 
here will become a fixed and ever-progressive 
character there, with its legitimate fruit. 

§ 6. The Harmony of the Bible and Philoso- 
phy in Regard to Character. 

In connection with an inspired picture of the 
judgment I find these words — and words more 
awful are not to be found in the Bible — "Let him 
that is unjust be unjust still, and let him that is filthy 
be filthy still ; let him that is righteous be right- 
eous still, and let him that is holy be holy still." 
Fact and philosophy teach the same lesson in 
regard to character and its fruits. It follows that 
no intelligence in the infinite domains of the 
Almighty can possibly be a lost outcast who has 



272 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



a capacity or character to enjoy heaven. Heaven 
without a character suited to enjoy it — spiritual 
and holy — would be like a gallery of paintings to 
the blind or music to the deaf. 

Character, then, should be regarded as the 
overwhelming interest of life. Purity in char- 
acter is a positive virtue, and the moral vacuum 
caused by its absence can be filled only by sin. 
If, then, heaven is the inevitable outcome of pu- 
rity, what must be the result when the injustice 
and filthiness of the soul become fixed forever? 
In nothing does the infidel manifest the shallow- 
ness of his views more than in his conception 
of man as a creature whose capacity is limited 
to earth, and whose highest interests should be 
concentrated on the pleasures and indulgences 
of the present hour. Our earthly environments 
amount to something; but nothing deserves the 
high name of happiness which does not well up 
from the fountain of a pure character. It is to 
make room for character that we have tried to 
break the iron chains of necessity. 

§ 7. The Outcome of Character regarded as 
Consequences, not Rewards and Punish- 
ments. 

In his letter to Dr. Field, Colonel Ingersoll 
affirms that rewards and punishments do not and 
can not exist ; he admits, however, that evil con- 
quences follow bad conduct, and that good results 
follow good conduct ; and " that the relation of 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 



273 



these causes and effects can no more be changed 
than the relation of the diameter to the circum- 
ference of a circle." Very well. Here again I 
am happy to agree substantially with the skeptic. 
Call rewards and punishments consequences, if 
you please, you shall be accommodated. But if 
the misery of a bad man comes upon him as a 
consequence of his crimes, why charge his shame 
and wretchedness to the Almighty? And if a 
man be bad, and carry his bad character into the 
next world, and logic compel us to hold that 
such character will be attended by evil conse- 
quences there, why fly into a passion, and say that 
none but an "infinite fiend" could have brought 
such things about? We hold that the results of 
virtue are not only consequences, but that they 
may properly be called rewards, because they ex- 
press the divine will as embodied in the constitu- 
tion of nature. The same principle holds in 
regard to vice and its attendant misery. 

§ 8. Onk Ground of Necessity no Better than 
Another. 

The facts of the universe are not modified by 
any interpretation we may make of them, or by any 
method we may adopt for accounting for their 
origin. It seems that Ingersoll can lovingly em- 
brace the doctrine of necessity if it be self-caused 
and self-sustained ; but if it be alleged that a 
personal God is the cause and author of the same 
condition of things, then his existence is to be 



274 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



denied, on the ground that a Being of infinite 
perfections would not create such a world as this. 
Materialistic philosophy spins out one of these 
lines of thought, and Augustinian theology the 
other. As both theories teach the same thing, 
if one be the true interpretation of nature, why 
not the other? It seems, then, that the objec- 
tion touches not the doctrine of necessity, but 
the cause of it. Such a world as this, it seems, 
might be tolerated as the product of unreasoning 
matter, but not as the creation of God. But 
reason we have, and we ask : Did dirt or a God 
conceive, then produce this universe ? By crush- 
ing all forms of moral necessity, and giving to 
each department of nature its proper place, this 
universe furnishes the highest and clearest ex- 
pression we can conceive of God. 

§ 9. The Individuality and Independence of 
Man. 

Man is not, then, a creature of necessity, as if 
interwoven with nature as a part of its compli- 
cated mechanism, but he stands forth in his own 
proper person, in an important sense, as one of 
the lords of creation. Instead of worshiping the 
personified forces of nature — the winds, the light- 
nings, the sun, moon, and stars — as his far-away 
ancestors did, he is either conquering or taming 
them so that they do his will and subserve his 
interests. Neither is he like Mazeppa, lashed to 



THE POWER OF CHARACTER. 



275 



the wild horse of passion, unless he has crimi- 
nally brought degradation upon himself. Such 
cases there may be, but the wretched victims are 
thus bound as the result or in consequence of 
long indulgence in sinful passions. At the com- 
mencement of their wrong-doing they were mas- 
ters of the situation. The intoxicating cup they 
could have dashed to the ground and lived lives 
of sobriety, and they knew it. The sickly senti- 
mentalism which exists in many places for the 
vile — for murderers, anarchists, bank robbers, 
etc. — has in society the force of a moral pesti- 
lence. In whatever character such sympathy 
exists, it is moral rottenness. Nothing should be 
said or done to remove from the mind of the 
evil-doer the terrible truth that his crimes are his 
own, and that he must endure the miseries they 
inflict. Strip what are known as the crimes of 
murder, perjury, and theft of their moral char- 
acter — call them social or business misfortunes, 
then wreathe the brow of the " unfortunate " with 
laurels, and pour into his soul a flood of sym- 
pathy — and soon earth will become a pandemo- 
nium. On the other hand, a sound philosophy 
finds a true expression in Scripture language : 
"What is man that thou art mindful of him? 
Thou hast made him but a little lower than the 
angels, and crowned him with glory and honor, 
and given him dominion over the works of thy 
hands." This is what we find the full-orbed 



276 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



man to be. His character was rooted in a con- 
sciousness that, whatever his virtues .or vices 
might be, they would be his own — the make-up 
of his being, the form his individuality would 
take on — and his life has been consecrated to 
virtuous and noble well-doing. 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 277 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INFIDELITY AS THE OUTCOME OF THE PERVERSIONS 
AND MISINTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 

"Who has this Book and reads it not, 

Doth God himself despise; 
Who reads but understandeth not, 

His soul in darkness lies; 
Who understands and savors not, 

He finds no rest in trouble; 
Who savors but obeyeth not, 

He hath his judgment double. 
Who reads this Book, who understands, 

Doth savor and obey ; 
His soul shall stand at God's right hand 

In the great Judgment-day." 

§ i. They best understand the Bible who live 
the Life it describes. 

As we have seen at every step in this discus- 
sion, modern Atheism has but a remote connection 
with the sacred Scriptures ; and whenever they are 
referred to, both the letter and spirit of their teach- 
ings are largely interpreted by the woeful mis- 
readings which have been given to nature. It is 
admitted that, in many respects, between the doc- 
trines of the Bible and laws of nature, an analogy, 
harmony, or identity exists, and that both afford 
the same reasons for believing or denying that 
the world has a Creator and Governor. The un- 
natural and strained construction infidels put upon 



278 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



the Scriptures would be instantly repudiated by 
Jew and Christian, Catholic and Protestant. 

Were these perverted notions the result of 
calm but insufficient investigation, we might look 
for a correction of the more fatal mistakes ; but in 
the main the tone and spirit of Atheistic writings 
afford proof that the authors have been swept by 
passion from all debatable ground, into the region 
of scorn and invective; consequently there is but 
little room, except in rare cases, to hope for a 
change. 

Though this is a superficial, it is a reading, 
age; and papers, books, and pamphlets are flying 
in all directions, like the leaves of autumn. We 
may then, for the special benefit of the youth of 
our country, glance at the construction skeptics 
put upon some parts of Scripture, and contrast 
such perversions with the generally received 
opinion of the Church. 

Whoever looks at the Christian life as detailed 
in the Bible and illustrated by the lives of thou- 
sands and hundreds of thousands, living and dead, 
can not but admit that there is in it much that is 
peculiar; and these facts — these realities of hu- 
man experience — are the best aids one can have 
to an exposition of the Scriptures. Life in the 
camp or on the ocean can be understood only by 
the individual who has endured the march or bat- 
tled with the waves. Any form or modification 
of life must be lived to be understood from a mere 
description given of it. 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 279 



§ 2. The Ignorance and Bad Conduct of Men, 
Infidels substitute for Christianity. 

The following is a fair sample: "If one wishes 
to know the worst that man has done — all that 
power, guided by cruelty, could do ; all the excuses 
that can be framed for the commission of crime; 
the infinite difference that can exist between that 
which is professed and that which is practiced; 
the marvelous malignity of meekness, the arro- 
gance of humility, and the savagery of what is 
known as universal love — let him read the history 
of the Christian Church." (Ingersoll's Letter to 
Gladstone.) 

This array of the bad conduct of men amounts 
to nothing, as argument, unless it can be shown 
that they acted in accordance with the require- 
ments and the spirit of Christianity. The essence 
of religion is love — the obedience of supreme love 
to God and the service of love to man. Systems 
of theology and ecclesiastical organizations are 
largely human structures, and the imperfections 
which they contain, or the ignorance and de- 
pravities which remain in the world in spite 
of Christianity, ought not to be set down to 
the discredit of religion. The treachery of Judas 
was a disgrace to humanity, but not to Christ. 
The genuineness and purity of the Christian re- 
ligion has not been touched by the unwise conduct 
of its professed friends. The Spanish Inquisition, 
though it has ceased to exist as a fact, will re- 



28o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



main in the form of a monumental disgrace to 
that nation to the end of time ; and all the deeper 
will the disgrace be because its record of crime 
was made in the name of religion. Counterfeit 
gold does not affect the genuineness or the value 
of the real article. Does not the skeptic try to 
perpetrate a fraud in bringing forward the bad 
conduct of ignorant men, and in urging it as an 
expression of the true character of religion? In 
his exposition of religion we do not see religion, 
but men who greatly needed its saving power. 
Again, 

§3. Faith, the Root Principle of Religion, 
they represent as the cause of perse- 
CUTION. 

"In Christianity you will find the cause of per- 
secution. The idea that belief is essential to sal- 
vation — this ignorant and merciless dogma — ac- 
counts for the atrocities of the Church. This 
absurd declaration built the dungeons, used the 
instruments of torture, erected the scaffolds, and 
lighted the fagots of a thousand years." (Letter to 
Gladstone.) 

We deny the truth of every allegation in the 
above sentence. Did the Founder of religion ever 
lend the slightest countenance to persecution? 
Can there be persecution except in the absence 
of sympathy, kindness, and charity? Faith is 
really the root of every virtue. What is salvation 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 281 



but a proper relationship between the Creator and 
creature? How can this be, in the absence of 
faith? Could there be happiness in the family, 
or any joy in social life, if suspicion prevailed 
between the parties concerned? The primal and 
the deepest curse of humanity comes from its 
proneness to disbelieve in God, resulting in alien- 
ation from him. It is by the action of faith that 
a spirituality of character is developed in human 
life which constitutes its only possible capacity 
and "meetness for the inheritance of the saints in 
light." 

In denouncing faith as he does, Ingersoll be- 
trays his utter ignorance of the first principles of 
both psychology and Christianity. Mental phi- 
losophy as well as Christian experience unite in 
teaching that, without faith, not a step can be 
taken in either social, business, or religious life. 
Faith is salvation ; heaven is the home of the 
saved. In Hebrews we have a long catalogue of 
the achievements of faith, but persecution is not 
mentioned among them. "Our weapons are not 
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling 
down of the strongholds," said Paul. All gospel 
victories are the victories of faith, not force. Ev- 
erything in both the letter and the spirit of Chris- 
tianity is averse to persecution. It was Antichrist 
and a want of faith that built the dungeons and 
lit the fagots, and no one knows it better than 
this perverter of the right ways of the L,ord. 

24 



282 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§4. In the Absence of Argument, Religion is 
caricatured. 

Though in the following there is not expressed 
one purely religious thought, Ingersoll makes a 
clear exposure of himself : 

"Is heaven only a well-conducted poor-house? 
Are the angels in their highest estate nothing but 
paupers? Must all the redeemed feel that they 
are in heaven simply because there was a miscar- 
riage of justice? Will the lost be the only ones 
who will know that the right thing has been 
done? And will they alone appreciate the eth- 
ical elements of religion?" 

Has Colonel Ingersoll before him the Veda, 
the Zend Avesta, the Koran, the Book of Mor- 
mon, or what form of religion was it that he was 
holding up to ridicule? It is not for us to exam- 
ine such nonsense. We presume his rantings are 
a fine expression of his conceptions of Christian- 
ity; and if so, he is as ignorant of the teachings 
of the Bible as of the laws of nature. We will 
say to him that in the scheme of salvation by 
faith, law and justice are quite as conspicuous as 
mercy. Since Christ, in harmony with a law of 
the universe, gave himself for us, God can be just, 
and yet the justifier of him that believeth; and 
the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the 
man who walks according to the Spirit, and not 
after the flesh. Religion places man on the high 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 283 



plane of spirituality — a plane of being the skeptic 
knows nothing of. 

" The Church has always despised the man of 
humor, hated laughter, and encouraged the leth- 
argy of solemnity." 

It is true that low, corrupting, bacchanalian 
revelry the Church has opposed, and in so doing 
it has labored for the elevation of humanity ; but 
there is not one element of Christianity that 
stands out more conspicuously than the gladness 
and joy of the Christian life. "Cry out and shout, 
thou inhabitant of Zion ; for lo, I come, and I will 
dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord." 

§5. The Warnings given to the Jews of the 
Consequences of Idoeatry are represented 
as Catjseeess Cruelties. 

In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy 
the Jews are warned of the calamities which 
would come upon them as a nation, in case of 
disobedience and the indulgence of corrupt, hea- 
thenish practices. After quoting these passages, 
Ingersoll says : 

" Should it be found that these curses were, 
in fact, uttered by the god of hell, and that the 
translators had made a mistake in attributing 
them to Jehovah, could you say that the senti- 
ments expressed are inconsistent with the sup- 
posed character of the infinite fiend?" (Letter 
to Gladstone.) 



284 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

His conception of the case before ns is this : 
The God of the Bible, as a matter of self-indul- 
gence, declares that he will pour the fury of his 
anger upon the Jewish nation, which, at all times, 
be their conduct what it might, would be deserv- 
ing of the most tender considerations. Our con- 
ception is as follows : Knowing the proneness 
of this people to depart from his law and plunge 
into idolatry and every species of self-destructive 
corruption and crime, he beforehand warns them 
of their danger, and tells them of the inevitable 
and terrible consequences that will follow trans- 
gression. To increase the pungency of this warn- 
ing, God represents himself as the active agent 
who, after every mercy had been exhausted, would 
bring these things to pass. These laws were, 
however, elements in the constitution of nature, 
and the curses and punishments threatened were 
but the inevitable consequences of crime. God 
never manifested a purer love or a higher regard 
for his people than when, by these terrible threat- 
enings, he tried to save them from self-destruc- 
tion. Their fate was committed to their own 
hands. Ingersoll's conception of the case utterly 
excludes the truth it contains, and substitutes a 
monstrous fiction. 

§ 6. In its Attempts to pervert the Scriptures, 

iNFEDElylTY MAKES ITSEI/E SlEEY. 

Ingersoll lets himself down as follows: "Does 
not a gradual improvement in the things ere- 



PER VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 285 



ated show a corresponding improvement in the 
creator?" 

Had this question been asked four thousand 
years ago by a Hindu Pagan, we should not be 
surprised to meet it ; but the fact is, as we have 
noticed a score of times, Ingersoll's conceptions 
of God, and nature, and religion are those of a 
Pagan. A teacher of an infant class in a Sunday- 
school would smile to hear such a question, even 
from the least of her pupils, and afterwards be 
likely to repeat it as a specimen of the merriment 
of the class-room. 

But in this rare case the colonel has dropped 
invective, and is really trying to reason. God first 
created the grasses ; then higher forms of vegeta- 
tion ; then insects, worms, fishes, reptiles, birds, 
and beasts; and because the horse is, as an ani- 
mal, superior to the hippopotamus, his lame and 
limping logic infers that there must have been a 
corresponding growth and improvement in the 
Creator. He is unable to perceive that the crea- 
tion of the lowest form of vegetable or animal 
life affords as clear and positive proof of infinite 
wisdom and power as the highest. Let him try 
his skill at spinning a hair or organizing a mus- 
tard-seed, and if he is capable of grasping the 
idea of a Supreme Creator, he will feel the neces- 
sity of invoking his help. Ingersoll would do 
better to stick more closely to the Scriptures; for 
he appears less ridiculous in his perversions of 
them than of nature. 



286 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 7. The Reae Questions embraced in Chris- 
tianity ARE OFTEN MISAPPREHENDED. 

In the following quotation Ingersoll confounds 
accepting a fact with fully understanding what 
the fact contains. He says : 

" There can be no evidence to any mind of 
the existence of such a being [as God], and my 
mind is so that it is incapable of even thinking 
of an infinite personality." 

I can think of an atom as a fact, as a sub- 
stance, as a reality ; and, further, that a stone or 
an anvil is an aggregation of such atoms, but I 
have no idea of the essence or shape or properties 
of the individual atom. An infinite personality 
can not be more indefinite to the mind than the 
atom. I hold that man is an intelligence — a 
mind — and I can think of an infinite personality 
as clearly and definitely as I can think of a 
finite personality. I hope that Colonel Ingersoll 
will not press this point; for I fear that, to bring 
himself fully within the range of his mind so as 
to be understood, it would be necessary for God 
to undeify himself. It is a great blessing to be 
able to understand the fact that God is ; and to com- 
prehend all that is embraced in that fact is really 
not desirable. It is because of his imperfect or 
vicious psychology that the idea of God is to 
Ingersoll as colors are to a blind man or music to 
the deaf. Finite is as far beyond human compre- 
hension as infinite. 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 287 



§ 8. A Fai.sk Philosophy is sure to pervert 
Religious Truth. 

The following from Ingersoll is a conspicuous 
example : " Why should the Infinite demand a 
sacrifice from man ? In the first place, the In- 
finite is conditionless ; the Infinite can not want ; 
the Infinite has. A conditioned being may want, 
but the gratification of a want involves change — 
a change of condition. If God be conditionless, 
he can have no wants; consequently, no human 
being can gratify the Infinite." 

On the above metaphysical masquerading we 
remark : 

1. It is a bungling attempt to press into the 
service of Atheism Sir William Hamilton's specu- 
lations on the "unconditioned" — the only truly 
weak and useless performance of his life. 

2. It is intended to undermine the atonement, 
to nullify all the services of religion, and to abol- 
ish the Sabbath. 

3. It is a complete misapprehension of the 
letter and spirit of religion in the following par- 
ticulars : 

(1) It represents God as selfishly wanting 
something for his personal gratification, whereas 
the Bible teaches an exactly contrary doctrine. 

(2) The sacrifice of Christ was not intended 
to affect God, to make him propitious, but the 
creature redeemed and the moral government 
under which he was to live. 



288 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



(3) Religious services are instituted for the 
good of the creature, that in worship he may be 
changed from glory to glory by the Spirit into 
the image of God. 

§9. The Fundamental Element of Religion, 
that Character is the Root of Happiness 
and Misery, the Infidel can not deny. 

Afloat in floods of nonsense we find the fol- 
lowing gem from Ingersoll : "Right and wrong 
exist in the nature of things. . . . From cer- 
tain acts flow certain consequences ; the conse- 
quences increase or decrease the happiness of 
man, and the consequences must be borne" (Let- 
ter to Dr. Field.) 

This is good Scripture doctrine ; and if the 
skeptic were capable of seeing its logical bearing 
he would, at a glance, understand how it pulver- 
izes his infidelity. There is not a deeper, a 
broader, or a more conspicuous truth in religion 
than this. It signifies that as a man sows, so shall 
he reap ; that he shall eat of the fruit of his own 
doings; that he shall be paid the wages for which 
he works, whether of sin unto death, or of the 
Spirit unto eternal life. The " consequences " of 
ill-doing are nothing more nor less than the 
execution of the divine law against the evil-doer. 
What in philosophy we call consequences, in the- 
ology takes the name of punishment or reward ; 
and, in both cases alike, it is an expression of the 
will of God. Suffering for sin, considered as conse- 



PERVERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 289 



quences, presents punishment in its most terrible 
aspect. As a man looks upon himself as a 
doomed sufferer, and surveys the cause, no keener 
pain can pierce his heart than comes from these 
words : This is my own work. A man may defy 
the Almighty, but he can not fight himself. "The 
consequences must be borne" — terrible words. 

§ 10. Infidelity utterly fails to grasp the 
Higher Elements of the Mind. 

Its highest aspirations are limited to the in- 
dulgences this world and this life afford. It shuts 
out wholly the domain of the spiritual. High 
principles of patriotism, love of the truth for the 
truth's sake, and an unselfish devotion to the 
interest of others can not live in its atmosphere. 
Ingersoll says: "There are two things which can 
not exist in the same universe, an Infinite God 
and a martyr." (Rome or Reason?) 

Ingersoll strikes here at the root of religion. 
Men are prone to become creatures of passion, 
appetite, and self-indulgence. This might do if 
man were but a first-class brute, and this life 
were all ; but Christianity recognizes a future state 
of existence as the continuation of this — once I 
was not, I am, and it is more likely that I shall 
continue to exist, now that I am, than that I 
should be, when I was not. The Bible doctrine 
of immortality thus carries presumption of its 
truth on its face. 

This life, then, with its trade and business and 
25 



290 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



indulgences, is not the whole or the highest in- 
terest that should engage the attention of an In- 
telligence who expects to exist forever. Bread and 
meat for the body are valuable ; but where a soul is 
recognized, has it not high and holy demands 
which should be respected? If truth and prin- 
ciple and duty are more valuable to a man than 
this life and this world, it is not because these 
are prized too little, but because those are placed 
at their true value. The martyr becomes a mar- 
tyr because he can not part with the measure of 
his immortality, which has already commenced. 
God did not interfere and shield Stephen from the 
pelting stones of his murderers, but he opened 
heaven to his gaze, and his countenance became 
radiant because of the immortal fires burning 
within. Did God deal harshly with him? The 
moral power which makes a martyr possible, is a 
prophecy of an immortal crown. Is it because 
the infidel himself is in the dirt that he hates — 
yes, detests — everything of the nature of spiritual 
elevation ? 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 291 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE IDENTITY OF NATURAL AND REVEALED RE- 
LIGION. 

BEFORE dealing with any part of theology which is pe- 
culiarly Christian, we must trace the connection between the 
Reign of Law and the ideas which are alike fundamental to 
all religions and inseparable from the facts of nature. 

— Argyu,. 

§ i. Nature and the Bible as Different Wit- 
nesses. 

In searching for the identity of the lessons 
taught by nature and the Bible, it must not be 
supposed that the one is a duplicate of the other, 
but rather that there is a narrow border-land 
which is touched by both realms of truth, and it 
is only here that importance is to be attached to 
the agreement of the testimony of the two wit- 
nesses. 

Man, as a part of nature, belongs also to the 
religious world, and serves as a connecting link 
between them. His physical and vital nature 
identifies him as belonging to the organic world, 
whereas his intellectual and spiritual being place 
him in the higher religious sphere. As we pene- 
trate the realm which lies below man, the distinct- 
ive elements of religion disappear; and the higher 
we rise in the scale of intelligence and spiritual- 



292 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ity, the stronger and more intense they become. 
We should, then, principally look for the unity 
and identity of religion and nature along the line 
of humanity wherein it touches both worlds, and 
in other respects remain indifferent to the teach- 
ings of nature so far as religion is concerned. 

§ 2. The Use as a Teacher Christ made of 
Nature. 

In consequence of the close relationship which 
exists, of one kind and another, between nature 
and religion, the one may be used as a great help 
to a better understanding of the other. Christ, the 
great Teacher, not only recognized this fact, but he 
made it very conspicuous in many of his discourses. 
Passing a vineyard in company with his disciples, 
its fruitfulness suggested to him the nature of his 
kingdom. In the vine he could see himself, and 
in the branches his disciples. As the branches 
come out of the vine, derive nourishment from it, 
and are thus made fruitful, so Christ is to his dis- 
ciples the source of spiritual life, and separate 
from him they can do nothing. Here nature and 
religion alike teach and illustrate the law of man's 
dependence upon God. Here also we may see the 
analogy of nature and religion, and the identity 
of the instruction given. It was easy for Christ 
to perceive, in the process of making bread, the 
vital and moral elements of the kingdom of 
heaven. As in the living yeast-germs there is a 
power to transform the meal into apparently a 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 293 

new substance adapted to the oven, and ulti- 
mately to the wants of the stomach, so the gos- 
pel, attended by the infinite quickening Spirit of 
grace, regenerates and transforms the nature of 
man into the divine image, and " makes him meet 
for the inheritance of the saints in light." In 
their processes we see, in this case, the analogy 
of nature and religion, and identity in the lessons 
taught. As bread is the result of the presence of 
the foreign substance, yeast in the flour, so relig- 
ion is the gift of the infinite, life-giving Spirit. 
Natural law in the yeast has no kinship with 
spiritual law in the Gospel, but the analogy of 
their results is spiritually instructive. The wise 
virgins, who took a supply of oil in their vessels 
as they went out to meet the bridegroom, prac- 
ticed a far-reaching prudence in providing for future 
contingencies, which has its analogy in the relig- 
ious life, and is of a higher significance. Christ 
saw in the barren fig-tree the possibility and the 
consequences of practical carelessness in regard 
to a knowledge of God and a preparation for eter- 
nity. The sower, the seed, the different kinds of 
ground on which the seed may fall, and the vari- 
ous results which may follow, have their analo- 
gies — analogies full of instruction — in the king- 
dom of Christ. The natural law of vegetable life, 
which controls in the seed, is utterly unlike the 
spiritual law, which controls in the word of the 
kingdom ; and yet the working of the natural law 
is so analagous to the working of the spiritual 



294 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



law that they teach the same lesson. The serv- 
ant who buried his talent in the earth, and, as a 
consequence, earned nothing, represents a very 
common character — the one whose religious ca- 
pacity is not developed — often designated and dep- 
recated in the Gospel. If man's spiritual nature, 
as the connecting link between nature and relig- 
ion, is deficient in its development, we must re- 
gard him as being, on the whole, a failure. If, 
on the side of nature, man's intellect is not de- 
veloped, we shall perceive that in his idiocy the 
deficiency is terrible ; but if, on the religious side, 
there has not been a development of the spiritual 
element, the failure is still greater. In other 
words, the "natural man" as a man, his eternal 
relations considered, is as much below the "spir- 
itual man" as the servant who had buried his 
talent was below the servant who had earned five 
talents in addition to the five which had been in- 
trusted to him. From humanity as from a single 
root, both nature and the Bible teach that there 
may spring morally two orders of being of widely 
divergent characters and opposite destiny; and in 
proof and illustration of this statement, we may 
appeal to the most conspicuous personages of the 
world's history — Paul, Nero ; Wesley, Voltaire. 

We are strongly inclined to the opinion that 
had not sin, with its consequences — spiritual 
death — entered the world, the revelations of the 
Bible would have been unnecessary. In that 
case, so free and untrammeled would have been 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 295 



man's intellectual powers, so keen and sensitive 
his moral being, so quick and imperious his con- 
science, and so active his spiritual perceptions, 
that without such help he would have compre- 
hended himself, adjusted his relations to his fel- 
low-beings, served his Creator, and ever been 
ready for eternity. 

§ 3. The Validity of this Reasoning admitted 
by the Skeptic. 

The principle of the argument we have en- 
deavored to elaborate is recognized by Colonel 
Ingersoll in a letter to Dr. Field. He inquires : 

"What right have you to occupy the position 
of the Deist, and put forth arguments that even 
Christians have answered? They denounced the 
God of the Bible, because of his cruelty, and at 
the same time lauded the God of nature. The 
Christian replied that the God of nature was as 
cruel as the God of the Bible. This answer was 
complete." 

The admitted identity of instruction found in 
nature and in the Bible is the important point 
before us ; but we deny that either teaches that God 
is cruel. We can form no higher conceptions of 
truth, goodness, patience, and love than such as 
are revealed to us in connection with the divine 
character, but his goodness is equaled by his jus- 
tice and holiness; and both nature and the Bible 
teach that this is a moral world; that moral ac- 
tions, good and bad, originate in the will of man; 



296 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



that he alone is responsible for the existence of 
such acts, and for all their consequences ; that out 
of the character thus formed, if good, the best re- 
sults — happiness in this world and heaven in the 
next — will flow; and if bad, the outcome must 
necessarily be bitterness and sorrow and woe. It 
is, then, false and unjust to ascribe the sufferings 
our race has endured, all of which are directly or 
indirectly the consequences of sin, to the cruelties 
of either the God of nature or of the Bible. Out 
of a life of right thinking and doing, the good 
have found their supreme blessedness; and the 
profligate have made themselves wretched, because 
necessity was laid upon them by the unchangeable 
moral constitution of nature, "to eat of the fruit 
of their own doings." The doctrine that as a man 
sows so shall he reap, is taught by both Scripture 
and nature; and as wages or pay, it is not possi- 
ble for sin to award its servants anything but 
misery and death, for such are its only possessions. 

§4. Nature considered as a Revelation. 

Religion should not be thought of as an evo- 
lution from nature, nor should nature be regarded 
as an evolution from religion, but each has an 
isolated and independent root of its own in the 
same Divine Creator; each has a character of its 
own, and is governed by laws which are an ex- 
* pression of that character. These laws form par- 
allel lines, which, though they meet and coalesce 
here and there, never cross each other. As 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 297 



matter and organic life can not become either 
mind or spirit, so there can be no transfer of the 
laws of one kingdom to the other. The hypoth- 
esis that natural law can control in the spiritual 
world, implies either that matter is spirit, or that 
spirit is material ; and the absurdity of either sup- 
position can not be easily surpassed. A clear and 
undoubted fact of nature — as, that bread is nour- 
ishing — should be regarded as the voice of God 
on that subject and an expression of his will. 
Every such fact of the universe should be ac- 
cepted in the same manner, and reverenced as a 
revelation. As nature reveals to us, both through 
our experience and observation of the experience 
of others, the bitterness of sin and the blessedness 
of purity, that fact, independent of the Bible, 
should be regarded as an element in the constitu- 
tion of nature and as a revelation from God. 

That it was so regarded by the men of ancient 
Greece and Rome, learned and unlearned, is evi- 
dent from the fact that this idea or conscience, by 
an apotheosis, was elevated to a place among the 
gods, and known as Nemesis. Whoever the guilty 
party, high or low, or wherever he was, or what 
his employment, the burning eye of Nemesis — the 
god of vengeance — was on him. It was to appease 
this god that Jonah was thrown overboard into the 
sea; and when the people of the island of Melita 
saw the viper on the hand of the shipwrecked 
Paul, they reasoned that Nemesis was pursuing 
him as a criminal, who had escaped the violence 



298 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



of the storm. Every age, every nation, and every 
human heart has its Nemesis, which is the one God, 
speaking through nature, proclaiming the exceed- 
ing bitterness and the terrible deserts of sin. When, 
anciently, complaint was made that the god of 
vengeance moved tardily, or tarried by the way, 
one of the poets apologized for him as follows: 
"The mills of the gods grind slowly, but, then, 
they grind very fine." 

§5. The Testimony of the Two Witnesses Im- 
portant ONLY WHEN THEY TOUCH THE SAME 

Subject. 

The line of thought, here barely suggested, 
covers the larger part of human history, and holds 
as conspicuous a place in the Bible as it does in 
nature. In every particular, where the two wit- 
nesses touch the sante point, their testimony is the 
same. Misery is not, therefore, the result of the 
cruelty of the God of nature or of the Bible, but it 
comes upon man as the result of the violation of 
the law T s of his being and of the universe, of which 
he forms a part. Instead of living in harmony 
with his environments, man is out of his sphere, 
his nature is perverted, and he is in collision with 
his best interests. This is the testimony of both 
nature and the Bible. Both witnesses alike pro- 
fess kindness, and the infidelity which rests upon 
the affirmation of cruelty is without any founda- 
tion in truth. Between the structure of a clock, or a 
watch, and an hour-glass, there may be many and 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION 299 



wide differences, but for such difference we care 
nothing. The only question of importance is this : 
Do they agree in marking time correctly? And 
such is the nature of the relation which the differ- 
ent witnesses for religion sustain to each other. 
Any one who is disposed to reject willfully the force 
of their agreement can do so ; but such persons as 
are loyal to fact and logic will find some very grave 
obstructions before them, if they anticipate finding 
rest in infidelity as a form of spite. 

As we believe that nature is real and the Bible 
true, we do not hesitate to subject religion to the 
test of their agreement in regard to all of its fun- 
damental elements. If both teach the same les- 
son in regard to the reality of a moral world, the 
free agency of man, the reign of law in both the 
spiritual and natural world, that happiness and 
woe are both the outcome of character, and that 
man is the author of his own destiny, then their 
agreement is complete. 

In this connection it should be borne in mind 
that law is as thoroughly an element of religion 
as of physical nature. Whatever exists possesses 
a nature of its own, and out of that nature springs 
the law by which it is governed ; hence, as things 
differ per se y so they differ in the law of their phe- 
nomenal action. In its behavior a flower differs 
from a stone because it is a vital organism, and 
its life is subject to the action of the laws of its 
own nature ; the behavior of a bird differs from 
that of a flower because its life is of another kind, 



300 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

of a higher order, and subject to a higher law. 
Now, as the nature or essence of things can not 
be changed, the stone can not be transmuted into 
the flower, nor the flower into the bird, it follows 
that law can not be transferred from one depart- 
ment of the universe to another. Material law 
can not act apart from matter, vital law is limited 
to the substance in which it originates, and spir- 
itual law can hold sway only in the spiritual 
world. This interpretation of law we may find 
not only in the Bible, but we may read it upon 
every page of the volume of nature. 

§ 6. Nature's Testimony more than its Anal- 
ogy to Religion. 

Bishop Butler's Analogy of Nature and Relig- 
ion revolutionized the thought of the age in 
which he lived, and his argument still remains as 
one of the permanent defenses of Christianity. 
No one, however, ever saw more clearly than But- 
ler the limits and inconclusiveness of this argu- 
ment. It barely raises such a presumption in 
favor of revealed religion that the Deist could not 
reasonably pass it by without first giving it the 
most serious attention ; and this is all that was 
claimed for it by its great author. Drummond, 
we think, is wholly wrong, and brings the great- 
est confusion into the field of thought in identi- 
fying as one natural and spiritual law. Discarding 
Drummond in this crucial part of his argument, 
we retain the argument from analogy for all it is 



NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 301 



worth, and add thereto the positive and united 
testimony of nature and the Bible to the funda- 
mental elements of religion. The Bible has been 
allowed to speak in its own right, as if it were 
the sole witness in the case, and to nature has 
been awarded the same privilege. The only di- 
rection given them or restriction put upon them 
was to confine their testimony to God and man, 
and especially to the nature and destiny of man. 
As for unity, or harmony, or resemblance between 
the witnesses themselves, we have been indif- 
ferent ; indeed, the more fully they appeared to 
be unlike each other, strangers and independent, 
the more forcible was the agreement of their tes- 
timony. In this respect the facts in the case 
give to the argument all the cogency and conclu- 
siveness we could desire. 

The infidel may step in between the Bible and 
nature along lines where they do not pretend to 
touch or approach each other, and proclaim a 
want of harmony ; but the case he makes is 
wholly irrelevant, and affords him no ground for 
his skepticism. Because science tells us. the num- 
ber of bones there are in the human body, and the 
Bible is silent on the subject, there is no collision 
of testimony; and because the Bible says God is 
a Spirit, and nature gives no voice in regard to 
the essence of its creator, neither witness is to be 
discredited on these accounts. 

It is thus made to appear that nature and the 
Bible have a common source and the same origin. 



302 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



The Being who gave existence to man, and made 
him a part of the constitution of nature, adjusted 
his relation to the sun and moon and stars, made 
the earth, the air, and the waters of the globe 
subservient to his comfort ; and in another way 
he has shown the same hand, the same will, and 
the same wisdom; namely, in the revelation we 
have contained in words. If in either place there 
are to be seen the foot-prints of divinity, there 
are in both. The streams are two, and wholly 
unlike each other ; but as they have back of them 
a common source of supply, their waters are the 
same. Not a fig-leaf can the infidel find here to 
hide his shame. 



NA TURE AND RE VELA TION. 303 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE AGREEMENT OF NATURE AND REVELATION AS 
WITNESSES TO THE SAME TRUTH. 

If the God of love is most appropriately worshiped in 
the Christian temple, the God of nature may be equally hon- 
ored in the temple of science. Even from its lofty minarets 
the philosopher may summon the faithful to prayer, and the 
priest and the sage exchange altars without a compromise of 
faith or knowledge. — Sir David Brewster. 

§ 1. A Lament for the Fate of the Skeptic. 

All the fundamental elements of infidelity 
which are regarded as important have now been 
examined ; and what has been found ? Narrow 
and obsolete notions of philosophy and distorted 
conceptions of nature. Ingersoll's criticisms of the 
Old Testament, and especially his caricature called 
the " Mistakes of Moses," considered as a part of 
the great debate, are of but little importance. 

We can not withhold from this gifted man 
our sorrowful sympathy, when we call to mind the 
fact that he was driven by an unfortunate educa- 
tion, a mistaken theology, and a false philosophy 
into the terrible vortex of fatalism ; or, to use his 
own expressive language, " lashed, like Prometheus, 
to the rocks of fate." One of two interpretations 
of the universe he found himself compelled to 
adopt, — either hold that nature was a thing of 



304 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 

chance, governed by chance laws, or that the God 
he had been taught to believe in was the only 
energy in the universe ; that he was the cause of 
all things, and especially of the crimes, calamities, 
and miseries of human life. The actual suffer- 
ings of the world touched his sympathies; his 
vivid imagination gave to every tear and groan 
the highest possible coloring ; and then he never 
failed to connect, as instructed by his theology 
and philosophy, everything that was vile and 
mean with God, as its author. His mind, har- 
boring such convictions, and long kept in such a 
state of tumult, finally grew to regard it as an 
insult to be asked to believe that the God who took 
pleasure in producing crimes and sufferings could, 
at the same time, be almighty, infinitely wise, 
and divinely good. This is the rock on which 
he split. With his narrow views of nature, and his 
unfortunate religious training, he felt himself com- 
pelled to hold to the existence of such a God, 
or become an Atheist, and surrender the universe 
to the blind, imperfect, but certain decrees of 
fate. Did not his decision involve the least moral 
outrage his premises admitted? And should we 
not moderate our censures of the infidel till we 
have removed the ground on which his infidelity 
is based ? . How could the most devout Christian, 
if given to thought, and in the least degree loyal 
to logic, avoid following his example, if compelled 
to adopt his principles? How can any one who 
feels that God has made him to be the victim of 



NATURE AND REVELATION. 305 

sin and misery, at the same time become his de- 
vout, spiritual worshiper? John, as a psycholo- 
gist, said: u We love him because he first loved 
us, and became the propitiation for our sins, and 
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole world." Any reading of nature, any phi- 
losophy, or any interpretation of the Bible, which 
in any "way, directly or indirectly, makes God the 
author of sin, on the instant undeifies him ; and, 
to be reasonable, we must pronounce the doctrine 
false, or take the plunge into Atheism. 

§ 2. Religion can be understood only as we give 
to Nature and the Bible the Broadest 
Interpretations. 

In our search for the scientific elements which 
are supposed to lie at the foundation of infidelity, 
we have been led along various paths of nature, 
and have questioned everything that came in our 
way, from the atoms to the stars, which we had 
reason to think would afford it the least support; 
but at every step we have found that the broader 
and the more minute our conceptions of the uni- 
verse became, the more completely infidelity, like 
a dream, has dissolved, and the more fully and 
conspicuously religion, as a great light, has ap- 
peared in the moral heavens. In fact, it seems 
that the moral element is the great central fact 
of creation, and that it unifies and gives value to 
all the rest. 

We have followed Ingersoll along his tortuous, 
26 



306 



ANA TO 31 Y OF ATHEISM. 



philosophical, and theological ways into the dark 
realm of necessity, we have looked at this Prome- 
theus as he was lashed to the rocks of fate, and, 
turning from him, have found in a simple and 
clearly-defined pyschology the freedom and the 
consequent responsibility of the human mind. 
We have discovered that the will originates the 
act which contains the peculiar quality known as 
moral, whether good or bad, and hence virtues 
and crimes are human, and they have not God as 
their author. 

Out of this doctrine emerges the conclusion 
that the character, which had its origin and growth 
in the determinations of the will, lies at the base 
and is the cause of man's self-made destiny. If 
the character thus formed be good, it will be so 
very great and prolific in its goodness that its 
honor, glory, wisdom, and felicity will be com- 
mensurate with the creature's capacity. If the 
character formed by the vicious determinations of 
the will be carried into eternity, then there will 
be, (i) the absence of a rich outflow from virtue ; 
(2) the sufferings which are the natural and inevit- 
able outcome of the moral vacuum in the soul, 
supplied by elements of depravity. 

The force of this argument can be seen only as 
we properly weigh the greatness and the force of 
character. If in the acorn there is a potency which 
produces the mighty oak, is it possible for the mind 
to conceive what the fruits of a human character 
may be, with an eternity before it for development? 



NATURE AND REVELATION. 



307 



The effusions of the poet, the argument of the lo- 
gician, the melody of the musician, and the re- 
morse of the criminal, as mental phenomena, are 
true expressions of the minds from which they 
spring. Euclid, Kant, and Byron could not have 
done each the other's work. We have here a prin- 
ciple which is universal in nature — the outcome of 
things, whatever that may be, is a true expression 
of their nature ; and nowhere is the principle more 
imperious in its application than on the high plane 
of an ever-growing moral nature. Our eternity, 
then, good or bad, must fundamentally be the out- 
come of the being we carry there. Our character 
is our own, for we have made it; it is ourselves, 
for we have no other individuality ; and ourselves 
we must for ever remain. Hence, to charge the 
sins and consequent miseries of man upon God is 
unjust, an outrage on truth, and blasphemous. It 
is not, therefore, necessary to flee for refuge to 
Atheism to get rid of the horrible dogma of a sin- 
stained God. 

§3. The Harmony of Nature and Revelation 
in the Testimony they give in Regard to 
the Nature and Destiny of Man. 

We now regard the Atheist as disposed of, and 
the question which next in logical order may re- 
ceive attention refers to the identity of the God of 
nature and of revelation. Can we find the same 
ideas, purposes, and other marks of a common 
authorship, in the one that we find in the other? 



3 o8 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



Between the two schemes of thought and purpose, 
can we detect a common bond of sympathy? Es- 
pecially, is the God who is revealed to us in nature 
the same Being, in all his essential attributes, that 
we meet with in revelation? Is the man of our 
consciousness and experience the same man that 
we meet with in both revelation and nature ? The 
answers, which the facts of the case may compel 
us to give to these questions, ought to go a great 
way towards putting an end to the whole con- 
troversy. 

It will not be expected that, in form or in 
scope, there will be any similarity between nature 
and revelation; nor is that fact a matter of any 
importance, as all interest centers in the identity 
of the lessons taught in regard to the relations 
which subsist between God and man. 

As now, in every essential particular, we are to 
take our stand upon the high plane of intelligence 
and moral character, man, a created being, must 
be regarded as a part of nature, and as the center 
of interest in this discussion. 

We may consider nature, in vastness, as in- 
finite ; and yet we are not at present interested in 
any of its details, except such as touch the realm 
occupied by revelation. We must also bear in 
mind that revelation occupies a field which is al- 
most exclusively its own, and only where it borders 
upon nature are we interested in the relation the 
two realms sustain to each other. Where they 
touch, there should be unity in the lessons taught; 



NATURE AND REVELATION. 309 

where they do not touch, each is supreme and in- 
dependent in its own way and its own sphere. 

Nature and revelation meet in God and man, 
as on common ground, and the question before us 
is: Are their teachings the same in regard to them? 
If we find that such is the case, it will follow, 
with the force of a demonstration, that the two 
harmonious lines of thought have a common 
origin. The Author of the one must be the Author 
of the other. If so, then, in the structure of the 
argument it will appear that the teachings of the 
Bible, either as inspiration or as a copy from na- 
ture, must be divine. 

§4. The Constitution of Nature embodies in 
Itself the Wisdom and the Power and the 
Benevolence of God, which afterwards, in 
Another Form, found Expression in the 
Written Word. 

Whether inspired or not, the Bible does not 
pretend to be a creator of truth, but a revealer 
of facts and truths and principles which already 
existed. Nature is older than the Bible, and if 
the fundamental truths of revelation and nature 
are the same, touching God and man, then the 
written truth has been copied out of the volume 
of nature by the Holy Spirit, for there it was first 
put on record by the same Spirit. 

Let me remind the reader again that all there 
is of man — man being the main thread in this 
line of thought — as a part of creation, is also a 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



part of nature, and an expression of nature in re- 
gard to the divine will. The topic before us may 
then take any one or all of these forms : 

Is the Bible fundamentally a copy of the facts, 
principles, and lessons which may also be learned 
from the parts of nature which border upon the 
same themes? Or, are the Bible and nature differ- 
ent editions of the same essential truths which 
relate to God and man? Or, as separate wit- 
nesses, do the Bible and nature agree in their 
testimony in regard to the essential truths of re- 
ligion? We take our stand on the affirmative of 
these questions, prepared to try conclusions. Let 
the two voices now be heard: 

Bible. A God exists — almighty, divine in es- 
sence, infinite in all his attributes — the Creator of 
the universe and the Preserver of all things. 

Nature. Here I am, an infinite realm, and in 
every department — from the glow-worm to myriad 
suns; from the atom to the archangel — I proclaim 
my maker, God. It is impossible for me to exist 
and report the deliverances of consciousness, or 
frame a system of psychology, or even to exercise 
common sense, without recognizing myself — the 
mind — as an active intelligence, distinct from the 
matter and from the life of the body. As I see 
myself in other men, I can know them and they 
know me. I am one of a race — a drop in the vast 
ocean of humanity. The environments of climate, 
land and sea, food and clothing, peace and war, 
have their modifying effects upon both mind and 



NA TURE AND RE VELA TION. 3 1 1 

body; but after all, I, the man that was made, 
still "am." 

Bible. Man is a "living soul," or, more prop- 
erly, a mind or an intelligence, occupying a body, 
wrought out of the "dust of the ground" by a 
human life into a marvelously and "fearfully" 
complicated organism. (We prefer to use the 
word mind, because it embraces the psyche, or soul, 
the lower part of man; and also the pnenma, the 
higher or more spiritual part. The body is 
" dust" — common dirt — nothing more, nothing less 
or different; the life, which has built this dirt into 
an organism, also serves as an intermediary be- 
tween the organism and the mind, and it is through 
this life that the mind controls the body. It is 
wrong to say man has a soul or mind or spirit, 
for the truth is, man is a mind ; and the thing or 
being or creature, designated by the title mind, 
embraces in itself all that is signified by the terms 
soul and spirit. It is well to retain the use of the 
terms soul and spirit, but the former should never 
be used in science only to designate man's emo- 
tional nature, and the latter his highest — that is, 
his religious capacity. The title mind embraces 
both extremes of man's being. As the body is no 
part of the mind, so the life of the body is no part 
of either body or mind. The life of the body may 
disappear, and the body, as dust, return to the 
earth as it was, and yet the mind, or the man, re- 
main untouched). 

Nature. Yes, I think — that is to say, I am — 



312 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



and I must have been created ; for, as I was once 
nonentity, I did not originate myself. As an in- 
telligence, I am conscious of my existence. I 
think, I reason, I will, I feel, and I am conscious 
of such mental acts and of oft repeating them. 
The voice of Nature, continuing, says: 
Chemistry, my servant, has demonstrated that 
the body is composed of "dust," as follows: Ox- 
ygen, 72 per cent; hydrogen, 9; carbon, 7; ni- 
trogen, 5; and small portions of the following 
substances: calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, 
chlorine, magnesium, iodine, silicon, and a trace 
of arsenicum. These are the most common and 
abundant substances known to us. The body was 
made of this kind of " dust " or dirt. 

Bible. Man's existence, begun in this world, 
will be perpetuated in another state of ex- 
istence. 

Nature. The idea of annihilation — a some- 
thing becoming nothing — is unthinkable. No 
such process is known. Nothing of the kind 
ever took place, and there is no known agency 
at work which prophecies that it ever will. The 
question of an eternal future, among all nations 
in all ages of human history, has ever been one 
of absorbing interest; and such is the structure 
of man that it is impossible for him to think and 
believe and feel that this life ends all. 

Bible. Man's disobedience and crimes brought 
into the world its miseries and death. 

Nature. Human history is made up largely 



NATURE AND REVELATION. 313 

of suffering, which is the result of wrong-doing 
by some one, at some time, and of some kind. 
Ages of experience confirm the doctrine of the 
mortality of the human body. 

Bible. Man was endowed with an intellectual 
capacity to apprehend the right and the wrong ; 
intellect was re-enforced with a conscience which 
ever urged him to do the right; and his will was 
invested with the power to pursue the right and 
to avoid the wrong ; and hence the responsibility 
of his guilt, and of all the suffering that flows 
from it, lies at his own door. , 

Nature. Notwithstanding the measure of 
ruin sin has wrought in my moral being, con- 
sciousness and conscience, two infallible wit- 
nesses, testify — and their testimony has been uni- 
form and constant through all the ages of the 
past — that guiltiness follows voluntary trans- 
gression and none other. This doctrine I have 
proclaimed in the cell, in the prison, on the scaf- 
fold, from the jury, on the judge's bench, the 
death-bed, in all languages, and from every hu- 
man heart. 

Bible. Sin makes man the antagonist of the 
world he lives in, and, as a matter of fact, his ex- 
perience must be very bitter. 

Nature. Man's actual life is a perpetual com- 
mentary on the words " guilt," " condemnation," 
" sorrow," and " remorse." 

Bible. The greatest enemy man has to en- 
counter in this life is death. 

27 



3H 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



Nature. Such has been the experience of all 
people of all ages. 

Bible. Virtue is the only root of true and last- 
ing happiness. 

Nature. As light radiates from a burning lamp, 
so does happiness from a soul of truth, purity, and 
justice. 

Bible. God is angry with the wicked every 
day. 

Nature. The transgressor is conscious that he 
is under condemnation, and his conscience is a 
constant accuser. 

Bible. The wicked shall not go unpunished. 

Nature. The inevitable outcome of a sinful 
character is misery. 

Bible. Forgiveness and peace on certain terms 
is freely offered to the guilty. 

Nature. It is the experience of millions that 
guilty man may repent, become consciously rec- 
onciled to God, and enjoy his favor. 

Bible. To the believer a victory is promised 
over death and the grave. 

Nature. The dying Christian shouts: "O 
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is 
thy victory? Thanks be to God, who giveth us 
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" 

Bible. The fact and evidence of justification 
are secured by faith. 

Naticre. Psychology discloses the fact that 
the basis of reconciliation with God must be trust 
or confidence in him. 



NA TURE AND RE VELA TION. 3 1 5 

Bible. Christ gave himself as a ransom for the 
sins of the whole world. 

Nature. There is nothing in the universe 
which exists for itself alone without relations. 
Every atom seems to have been made for some 
other atom or for the whole universe. Need and 
supply everywhere go hand in hand. 

Bible. Man in this world is in a state of 
trial. He may pursue the good, or he may yield 
to temptation and become the victim of the bad ; 
but in either case his conduct here fixes his des- 
tiny in the future world. 

Natitre. On the same principle, in this life 
the conduct of one period of life is likely to give 
character, either good or bad, to that which is to 
follow. As one part of life is to another — youth 
to manhood — so is the whole of this life to the 
next. 

Bible. In some things God's wisdom is un- 
searchable, and his ways past finding out. It 
seems that if the mind could grasp the whole, 
the meaning of each part could be more dis- 
tinctly understood ; but as the case stands, we 
must bow our heads in silence in the presence of 
mysteries. 

Nature. The most learned scholars and the 
profoundest philosophers are compelled to confess 
that mystery reigns all along all the lines of 
thought that extend from the atom to the star. 

We must close the examination of these wit- 
nesses somewhere, and perhaps this will be as 



3 1 6 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

good a place as any. We have passed along the 
border where the two realms of truth come to 
gether and lap upon each other, and find that, in 
every essential particular, they teach the same 
doctrines concerning man and his destiny. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



317 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

That the idea of moral purity in the minds of the Isra- 
elites was originated by the machinery of the Levitical dis- 
pensation is supported, not only by the philosophy of the 
thing, but by many allusions of the Scriptures. 

— Walker. 

§ i. To Modern Eyes Obscurity rests upon All 
Antiquity. 

It is with but little satisfaction to itself that 
the mind attempts to catch the spirit of an age 
long since passed away. After having spent some 
years in examining the forts, and mounds, and 
pyramids, and pottery, and stone implements 
which are found in all parts of this country, we 
learn, beyond the possibility of doubt, that be- 
neath our feet lies a vast empire that has per- 
ished ; but the strange ruins give us but the 
faintest idea of the manners and customs and gov- 
ernment which once prevailed among the busy 
millions of people who have vanished from our 
sight. Fancy can re-people their forts with armed 
men ; but who were the opposing forces, and for 
what did they fight ? What is the significance of 
a mound of earth that covers thirteen acres, as in 
West Virginia, and which was once five hundred 
feet in height ? Is that pile the mausoleum of a 



3 1 8 ANA TO MY OF A THEISM. 

king? Was he a monster, and did his oppressed 
subjects attempt to bury him so deep that no res- 
urrection power would ever reach him? Or was 
he great and good v and did each subject he had 
blessed covet the privilege of casting a handful 
of earth upon his grave? What signify those vast 
and costly earth-works in the Northwest, which 
represent the elephant, the bear, the elk, the 
eagle, and other birds and beasts? In at least 
one instance the labor of hundreds of men — prob- 
ably thousands, as the use of iron was unknown — 
was for some months expended in the construc- 
tion of a serpent, with open mouth, in the act of 
swallowing a ball, some six feet in diameter. 
What do these things signify? By what motives 
were their builders actuated? What were they 
to themselves, and what was the world to them? 
What were their ideas of life and of destiny? As 
human beings they must have thought, and loved, 
and hated; and is not that about all we know of 
them? 

Could some millions of these ancient mound- 
builders revisit their earthly home in Ohio and 
Indiana, they might recognize the rivers, the nat- 
ural scenery, and their perishing earth-works ; but 
how little would they be able to comprehend of 
the spirit of the age in which we live ! We now 
know as little of the structure of their society — 
of their thoughts, their longings and sorrows — as 
they would know of ours. 

Would it be possible for any nation in this age 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



319 



to duplicate the pyramid Cheops ? There are la- 
borers and money enough, the rocky ledges of 
every country could supply the necessary stone, 
but the key-note of humanity, that which inspired 
and directed all such enterprises, has had its 
day — died out and departed from the earth. It 
is impossible for us to think the thoughts or feel 
the ambition which gave birth to the marvelous 
works of ancient Egypt. So much of human life 
has ceased to exist, and only its lettered but un- 
decipherable monuments remain. What is true 
in regard to Cheops might, with but slight modi- 
fication, be applied to the whole civilization of 
that age and country. What we know even of 
the Colonial history of our country — its mental 
and heart history, the most important part of his- 
tory — is but a fragment rescued from oblivion; 
and much more does obscurity and total darkness 
hide from our view the original impulse which 
gave character to all forms of ancient civilization. 
We are not able even to catch a glimpse of the 
spirit of the people which made it possible for 
the pyramids, the sphinx, the labyrinth, the 
needles, and the obelisks of Egypt to be built. 
We can not see how Cheops could ever have been 
worth to the nation the twelve acres of ground it 
stands on. Modern times have labored hard, and 
given the widest range to a creative fancy, in at- 
tempts to read a vast deal of significance into that 
structure, but, after all, the mystery which hangs 
over it is as dense as ever. The soul-life and 



320 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



longings of that ancient seat of civilization have * 
really departed from the earth, and all that we 
of this age can apprehend is scarcely its weird 
shadow. 

In the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec there 
may now be seen, in defiance of the ravages of 
time, three nicely cut and fitted stones, upwards 
of sixty feet in length, and more than sixteen feet 
square. What kind of a people were they, or 
what was the spirit of the age in which they 
lived, that the idea of building of such material 
should have entered into any human mind? Men 
like ourselves, no doubt, they were, but they must 
have been a race of Titans to have had such 
thoughts and purposes. 

§2. Nations incorporate the Spirit of their 
Times in their Works. 

It is safe to affirm that the spirit of all nations 
and peoples of all ages finds an expression in the 
works they construct when busy actors upon 
the stage of life. An ancient philosopher said: 
" Times change, and we change with them." He 
would have expressed more exactly the truth if 
he had said: We change, and, as a consequence, 
the times change also. As a necessity, a people 
must act out the life they live ; and traces of 
their works the successive generations will leave 
behind, even if as low down in the scale of civ- 
ilization as our wild hunter Indians. No nation 
or people can remain stationary long at a time. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



321 



It will either deteriorate or rise in the scale of 
civilization, and, in either case, the proper evi- 
dence of the fact will not be wanting. Here we 
fin,d in operation the law of growth and develop- 
ment; and the sweep it takes is so wide, and the 
interests it touches are so numerous, that there is 
no possibility of deception or fraud. 

§3. The Origin of the Jewish Nation One of 
the Best Authenticated Facts of History. 

The place of the Jewish people in human his- 
tory is shrouded in obscurity, and yet it is more 
clearly denned and better authenticated than that 
of any other nation under heaven. If we leave 
the Bible out of the account, what would we 
know of the origin of races and of nations ? Ab- 
solutely nothing. If we question the genuineness 
of the history we have of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
the bondage in Egypt of the Hebrews, Moses, the 
exodus of this people, and their establishment in 
the Holy Land, then we must at once discard all 
ancient history. The nation does not exist which 
can give us so clear an account of its origin and 
entire history as the Jews. In its bearing upon 
the growth and structure of the Old Testament, 
this is a matter of the very highest importance. 
The validity of whatever exists in the light of 
history is subjected to the severest of tests. It 
is in this focus of light and heat that we find the 
Bible. 

But the very facts which attest the truthful- 



322 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ness of the ancient Scriptures are used by infidel- 
ity to discredit it. It is alleged that the society 
it describes and the influences to which it was 
subject we know nothing of. 

§ 4. Thk Condition of the Hebrew Mind at 
the Time of the Exodus. 

When the Hebrews left Egypt, after four hun- 
dred years of the most bitter servitude, they, as a 
people, must have been among the most ignorant 
and degraded of those times. Were it not for the 
few gleams of light we derive from the Scriptures 
and Egyptian records, they would present as hazy 
an appearance in the dim distance as the mound- 
builders of our own country. What we see the 
most clearly is their lowly moral condition, and 
the means adopted by Moses to effect their eleva- 
tion. If we persist in looking upon this people 
as we regard present Christian nations, and judge 
accordingly of the means used for their elevation 
and government, we shall utterly miss the truth 
in the case. This is the unpardonable mistake 
Colonel Ingersoll has made. Moses undertook 
the moral elevation of a people who could not 
grasp an abstract moral idea, nor discriminate be- 
tween their own soul and body. He commenced 
by teaching them to distinguish a clean from a 
dirty hand, and then between other clean from 
unclean things. That this lesson might be kept 
constantly before their eyes, he divided the beasts 
and birds and fishes of creation into two classes, 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 323 

the clean and the unclean. In many ways he 
brought this principle to bear constantly upon the 
minds of the men and women of his charge. Un- 
cleanness might result from contact with a dead 
body and other things. This form of purity was 
urged — yes, demanded — of the people as a national 
interest, and of the highest importance ; and it fol- 
lowed, as a logical consequence, that to be unclean 
was to be a wretch, an outcast, scarcely fit to live. 
This principle, at the very beginning of the na- 
tion's existence, became an all-pervading element 
of its life. 

§ 5. The Policy pursued by Moses for the El- 
evation of this People. 

We flatter ourselves that we can catch a glim- 
mering of the wisdom of this course. To start 
with, we would not expect a Digger Indian, as a 
mechanic, to be able even to perceive the beauty 
of Corinthian architecture, and we should not set 
him to work at anything of the kind. If he could 
make a good milking-stool or a hoe-handle, we 
should think he had done well. Wesley had in 
mind the Mosaic conception of physical purity 
when he said, " Cleanliness is next to godliness;" 
and evidently he thought, with Moses, that it was 
a stepping-stone to moral purity. 

Notwithstanding all the mistakes Ingersoll 
fancies he has discovered in Moses, there are 
other men, whom the world regards as competent 
to judge, who are willing to confess their indebt- 



324 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



edness to him in a great modern emergency. We 
refer particularly to the Hon. B. F. Butler. On 
May i, 1862, he found himself in New Orleans, 
in command of a large army, all unacclimated 
men from the North. Of the history of his occu- 
pation of that city he says : 

" May 10th, the streets were reeking with putre- 
fying filth, and the smells from the decomposing 
matter were, to a Northern nose, unbearable. 
Everything had, of custom, been thrown into the 
streets that the inhabitants desired to be rid of, 
and lay there, seething and rotting. The canals 
and all their tributaries, the drains, were covered 
with green slime so thickly that the water was not 
visible. In the pools were dead animals, floating 
about, with every other description of animal de- 
composition. . . . The disease [yellow fever] 
would soon be upon us. It came before the end 
of May in 1853, and was supposed to be ineradi- 
cable. . . . The general had never heard of the 
yellow fever in the East ; had heard of the plague, 
of cholera, and leprosy as terrible scourges. 
While this country was substantially exempt from 
them, why should we be cursed with the other? 
He had no works within reach, if there are any 
such works, to enlighten him on this topic." 

"He knew of one, and everybody knows of the 
same one — the Bible — but which he had not heard 
quoted as a work on diseases. In that were the 
books of Moses. Now, without discussing the 
question whether Moses was taught directly of 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



325 



God as to the writing of his books and his in- 
structions to the Israelites, as wholly one side of 
this examination, it is certain that Moses had all 
the learning of the Egyptians, which included all 
the learning of that time in the world, upon deal- 
ing with the diseases incident to large bodies of 
men gathered together in a hot climate. The 
general had read before, with admiration, Moses' 
careful provisions in regard to leprosy and against 
the plague, and also as to preserving the bodies 
of his people free from corruptions and unheal th- 
iness, and enforcing them even, with the belief, 
on the people's part, that he would invoke divine 
power to enforce his provisions. 

" The general observed that while Moses seemed 
to take no care as to diseases which might arise 
from miasma from decaying vegetable matter, and 
while nothing is said of that peculiar fever which 
we know coming to us from such matter, yet that 
Moses enforced the most thorough, careful, and 
minute cleanliness in regard to all dead or decay- 
ing animal matter, of every description, of which 
he used large quantities. The altars blazed with 
continual fires, upon which were placed, as expia- 
tion for all offenses, descending even to trespass, 
parts of animals, large and small, from the bul- 
lock to the turtle-dove, of which the fires con- 
sumed upon the altar very small portions ; and 
other not very large portions were devoted to the 
sustenance of Aaron and the sons of the priest- 
hood. Moses, over and over and over again, 



326 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



requires every day that the carcass, the offal, the 
dung, and refuse parts of all animals sacrificed, be 
carried without the camp and there burned up, 
and the ashes even be buried.* And the same 
imperative orders were given in regard to every 
part of the animal that was not burned on the 
altar or eaten as food by the children of Aaron. 

"And, it is wonderful to observe, the most 
stringent orders for the most unremitting care 
that every possible part, or excrementitious mat- 
ter from the human body, should be, day by day, 
carefully buried, and every Israelite was armed 
with an implement for that purpose.f Not only 
this, but every exhalation from a dead body of 
any sort was treated as £ uncleanness;' and who- 
ever touched anything dead, or had any dead mat- 
ter issue from himself partaking of blood, should 
wash himself with water, and thereafter not 1 come 
into camp till evening.' So much and so great 
care was taken, that not a microbe of putrefying 
flesh, and especially human flesh, should taint the 
pure air of Palestine or even the wilderness. So 
Moses had neither typhus fever, cholera, nor 
plague, not inflicted by the Lord for punishment, 
among the children of Israel during a forty years' 
march. By feeding his people substantially on 
manna, a purely vegetable product, the leprosy 
was gradually worked out of them. " 

* Leviticus iv, 11-12. 

t Deuteronomy xxiii, 10-13. Vide Deuteronomy and Num- 
bers passim. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



327 



It was thus, by following the instructions of 
Moses, that General Butler carried the city of 
New Orleans and his great army through the 
year 1862 without a single case of yellow fever. 
But in keeping before the people in so many ways 
the idea of cleanliness and uncleanness, Moses 
had in view something far deeper and more sig- 
nificant than the health of the camp, great as that 
must have been. His ideal of human perfection 
was a clean or pure soul in a healthy body, and 
we do not see how he could have reached that 
point in any way except the one he adopted. So 
much pure light, and an essential element of re- 
ligion, comes to us, from a remote antiquity, 
through the Old Testament. 

§ 6. The Significance of Mount Sinai. 

During their long servitude of four hundred 
years the Hebrews became familiar with all the 
various forms of Egyptian idolatrous worship, and 
were no doubt, to a large extent, brought under 
its influence. How degrading must their con- 
ceptions have been of the Deity, having all their 
life witnessed the worship of cats, dogs, horned 
cattle, the crocodile, garlics, leeks, and onions ! 
To remove these impressions, and convey to the 
people a proper conception of the God they were 
to worship, was a matter of the first importance. 
How could it be done ? Talk to them of truth, jus- 
tice, holiness, purity, righteousness, omniscience, 
omnipotence, and ubiquity, as divine attributes, 



328 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



and nothing you said would be understood. In 
some way their mind must be "reached through 
their senses, if at all. What can be done? Let 
the trumpet, the thunder, the lightning, the shak- 
ing earth, the " Voice," and the terror of Mount 
Sinai answer. The people were encamped some 
distance from the mount, and not allowed to 
approach it; as a preparatory service they went 
through the most careful processes of purification, 
and so marvelous was the manifestation of the 
divine power and glory that even Moses said : " I 
do exceedingly fear and quake." In the midst 
of this visible scene of awful grandeur the Ten 
Commandments, the roots of all moral law, were 
delivered to the people. What were the gods of 
Egypt compared to the God of Mount Sinai ? And 
there they were taught that this was the God who, 
in the beginning, created the heavens and the earth. 
Hence there could be but one God. Thus it is that 
from the far-away, hazy past, in connection with the 
infancy of a nation, there comes to us through the 
Old Testament, a blaze of light in regard to the most 
fundamental element of religion, a knowledge of 
the one, the great, the holy, and the mighty God. 
This one fact in importance surpasses all that 
we can learn from the mound-builders a thou- 
sand-fold. 

§ 7 . The Decalogue. 

Again, as we look back through the shadowy 
past to the infancy of the Hebrew nation, we meet 
towering up before us, in its own peculiar gran- 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 329 

deur, a complete and perfect code of moral laws. 
The renowned jnrisprndence of Rome was the 
result of the study and experience of an empire 
during more than one thousand years ; and even 
then, in its moral features, it was far inferior to 
that which Moses delivered to his people in the 
wilderness. This is a fact which no science or 
philosophy can explain. Nations are all the time 
borrowing laws from each other ; but there was 
no nation on the earth from which Moses could 
have borrowed the Decalogue. It either sprang 
up out of the desert, or it was a gift, as it 
professes to be, from heaven. Here is a code in 
which may be seen all the elements of govern- 
ment, human and divine. First of all, the Creator 
is enthroned as the supreme power and authority, 
and man's relation to him clearly defined ; then 
man's relation to his brother man is set forth, 
the civil, marital, parental, and filial relations in- 
cluded. Such a moral code in that age of the 
world was out of all proportions to the attain- 
ments of the people ; it was like a beacon-light 
set up in the distance before them, towards which 
they were to advance as rapidly as possible. The 
point which we wish to make emphatic is, that 
the morals of this code are the morals of the 
Gospel of Christ. As the ages of the past have 
found in it no flaw, nor made any addition or im- 
provement, we may expect it will remain as it is 
in all time to come, an expression of the moral 
constitution of nature. Its perfection, when deliv- 

28 



33o 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ered, may be taken as the seal of its divine origin. 
In its adaptations it is suited to all nations, to 
every individual, and to all ages. In its unchange- 
ableness it partakes of the nature of physical 
subtances — gold, silver, iron. Time makes no 
improvements, and calls for no changes. 

§ 8. The) Abrahamic Covenant. 

If we go back from Moses some five hundred 
years, we come to Abraham, the tap-root of the 
Jewish nation. The covenant of grace made with 
him, recorded in Genesis, chapters twelve to 
eighteen, considered in connection with the ex- 
position given of it by the apostle Paul, is prob- 
ably the most remarkable document that was ever 
written. God said to Abraham : " Walk thou 
before me, and be thou perfect, and I will make a 
covenant with thee, and with thy seed after thee." 
And then follows a specification of the blessings 
promised. This covenant was ever regarded as 
the constitution of their nation by the Jews ; but, 
according to the interpretation given to it by St. 
Paul, it contained all the seed-thoughts of the 
Gospel of Christ. There is no spiritual blessing 
that man can enjoy, either in this world or the 
next, that is not embraced in that covenant. The 
whole of human duty is included in the command, 
"Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect;" and 
the highest blessedness flows from the promise, 
" I will be thy God, and ye shall be my people." 
If it required an Infinite Creator to put, poten- 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 331 

tially, an oak into an acorn, no being less wise 
could have included the wonderful scheme of 
redemption as developed in the Gospel of Christ 
into the few words that were spoken to Abraham. 
So bright a light was this covenant to Abraham 
that, it is said, he saw in it the day of Christ, and 
was glad. 

Here, then, through the Old Testament, we 
behold another beacon-light which, for thousands 
of years, did much to dispel the darkness from 
the infancy of mankind ; and it is a satisfaction 
to know that the light which shone around his 
cradle is the same, only its splendor is enlarged, 
which now illuminates the high noon of his ex- 
istence. 

This line of thought might be still further ex- 
tended ; but the items above specified clearly iden- 
tify the religion of the Old Testament with the 
religion of the New* and with the religion of 
nature. Our argument contemplates no more. 
Whilst so much is clear, should the skeptic affirm 
that there is much in the Old Testament that is 
unusual — outside of our experience, strange and 
incomprehensible — we should admit the truth of 
his statement. Should he demand an explana- 
tion of these things as a prerequisite to faith, we 
should demand that he reproduce the age of 
Moses, with all its peculiarities, in Egypt and in 
the Wilderness, with the transitions and reconstruc- 
tions which were everywhere going on. Then 
we should be able to see isolated facts in their 



332 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



connections with cause, reason, and effects ; and, 
in most cases, further explanation would not be 
necessary. 

Who denies the existence of the ancient civ- 
ilization of Egypt, or of Central America, Peru, 
Mexico, and the Ohio Valley, because much 
of what remains is incomprehensible ? The de- 
mands of the skeptic are without reason, and they 
carry no force. 

The basal principles of religion are the same 
always and everywhere, and they can not change ; 
but humanity, society, and governments, ever 
growing, developing, or deteriorating, are subject 
to constant change. Authors thoughtlessly, and 
of course flippantly, talk of different religions — 
Freeman Clarke runs the number up as high as 
ten — but the truth is, there is at base but one 
religion. The fact that that religion may take 
on numerous forms, and find with different people 
and under different circumstances a variety of 
expressions, does not multiply the all-enduring 
and unchanging root, the obedience of love to 
God and the service of love to man. In Jewish 
history we may see the elements of the most 
unchangeable stability in the midst of changes 
many and extreme. The essential, the basal, the 
enduring of the Mosaic Institute, has come down 
to us, and is fundamental in Christianity. Thus 
the Old Testament, the New Testament, and 
nature, as three different witnesses, teach the 
same lessons. 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 333 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 

WE are in hopes that when this region of thought comes 
to be further examined, it may lead to some common ground 
on which followers of science on the one hand, and of re- 
vealed religion on the other, may meet together, and recog- 
nize each other's claims, without any sacrifice of the spirit of 
independence or any diminution of self-respect. — Tait. 

§1. The Indefinite Aim of Infidel Warfare. 

The progress of knowledge has often been 
greatly impeded by the reckless intrusiveness and 
bold assumptions of both scientific and theological 
writers. The battles fought along the line where 
Church and academy meet and lap upon' each 
other, have been many, and often the contending 
forces have been ruthless invaders. Often the 
Church has regarded herself as the depository of 
all truth and the interpreter of all human inter- 
ests, in reference to both this world and the world 
to come. The presumption that there should be 
any science or philosophy, any social, political, or 
physical interest, in regard to which the Bible 
was not an authority, has been treated as irrever- 
ent, if not wicked and blasphemous. In early 
times, scholarly converts from heathenism brought 
a portion of their erudition into the Church as 



334 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



established truth, but nothing of the kind could 
be tolerated unless incorporated with theology. 
Christ was not only regarded as the King of all 
kings and of all kingdoms, but Christianity was 
held to be all-embracing; and hence ecclesiasti- 
cism was compelled to push out its lines in all 
directions, that every earthly and heavenly interest 
might be included in it. 

As a consequence of this illegitimate claim, 
theology for some centuries in Europe, like an in- 
cubus, rested upon the science of anatomy, physi- 
ology, chemistry, and medicine, till the untram- 
meled Arabs swept the barriers away — not only 
by their invading armies, but by their superior 
scholarship. Theology became a monstrous growth, 
and religion mostly fled from its presence. The 
Dark Ages were brought upon the world quite as 
much by a corrupt theology, as by a morally apos- 
tate Church. 

It can not be denied that the Church and sci- 
ence — also, theology and science — have often been 
in deadly conflict, but the really important ques- 
tion is this: Has ever religion, per se y and infidel- 
ity been at war? What is religion? It is the 
obedience of love to God and the service of love 
to man. What is science? It is a knowledge and 
study of God's works. The graphic account which 
Dr. Draper has given of the conflict between re- 
ligion and science never occurred; and the title 
of his book should have been: "History of the 
Conflict between a Mongrel Theology and an Over- 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 335 



grown Church on the One Hand, and Science on 
the Other." 

The Church has often been in the wrong, and 
science as frequently has made its mistakes — col- 
lision has been the result; but we have yet to 
meet an assault made directly upon religion itself. 
There is a class of theologians and a class of phi- 
losophers which seem to be constitutionally op- 
posed to each other. Each looks upon the other's 
field of thought as a rival ; or, rather, neither class 
is sure of its own footing, and stands in constant 
fear of a successful invasion from the other. 
These are the mischief-makers in the world of 
polemics, and it must be confessed that they do 
much harm. Throw out what Ingersoll has said 
against Church corruptions and an overgrown 
theology, and there would not be much left of his 
diatribes. 

There is before the world a class of men whose 
example ought to be all-potent in correcting the 
follies of one-sided bigots, whether found in the 
ranks of the theologians or scientists. Galileo, 
Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Newton, Fara- 
day, Maxwell, Dana, Winchell, Dawson, are but a 
few of the great names which are equally potent 
in the religious and scientific world. They find 
the same God in the laboratory and at the altar; 
they find him in his works and in his Word. 
They have reached the lofty height to which they 
have attained, only by keeping separate and using 
both wings of thought. 



336 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 2. The Proper Relation oe Church, Theology, 
and Religion to Each Other. 

The word Church has often signified an eccle- 
siastical despotism, and the word theology has 
stood for an iron-clad, philosophico-theological ex- 
pression of whatever would give power to this 
Church; and as there was neither use nor room 
for religion, the outcome has been corruption and 
wrong. When the world shall be blest with much 
religion, a moderate but adequate supply of the- 
ology, and still less of ecclesiastical machinery, 
the conflict between science and religion will 
mostly cease. In this connection, special attention 
may be given to theology and to its liability to 
abuse. When defined as the logical and system- 
atic expression of the basal elements of religion, 
natural and revealed, no objection will be made 
to it. As a body of truth it is rooted in both God 
and man, complete in itself, and independent of 
every other system of truth. It is purest and best 
when, in its own light, it stands alone, unmodified 
by any system of speculative thought. In the # gen- 
eral realm of truth it has a place and character ex- 
clusively its own, which the terms God, man, char- 
acter, and destiny designate with sufficient precision. 

§ 3. Theology, as Distinguished erom the 
Gospel. 

The sacred Scriptures contain all the elements 
of theology, but it is the student's business to col- 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 337 

late them and reduce them to systematic form. The 
gospel, as given to us by Christ and his apostles, 
is like the rose in full bloom, basking in the sun, 
or jeweled by the dews of the night, enriching the 
air with its fragrance, and giving its beauty to the 
world; theology is like the rose plucked from its 
stem, and subjected to the destructive analysis of 
the botanist. In yielding up to the observer its 
scientific elements, the flower, like the mother of 
Caesar, is doomed to part with its life. 

Valuable as theology may be to the philosoph- 
ical thinker, it is the living, glowing gospel, which 
should be preached from the pulpit as spiritual 
food for hungry, perishing men. The sermons of 
the Vine, of the Good Shepherd, the Prodigal Son, 
as found in the Scriptures, are of surpassing 
beauty, but they will not bear the touch of analy- 
sis and logic. The solid timbers of theology may 
constitute the frame- work of preaching, but they 
should be so clothed with the practical spiritual- 
ities of the gospel that, like the bones of a living 
body, they can be seen only by dissection. The 
abstract, skeleton-like elements of theology should 
be taken for only what they profess to be, and 
never for the religion of Christ. 

We expose theology to contempt by eliminating 
the divine and spiritual elements, for then only 
the intellectual is left, and at once we are trans- 
ported into another realm — the Siberian wastes 
of pure rationalism. Christianity with Christ left 
out, does not commend itself to anybody. The 

29 



33§ ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



narrow and uncertain ways of speculative philos- 
ophy can not be used as the fundamental elements 
of a religion revealed from heaven. It is the 
philosopher, and not the theologian, who is likely 
to make this mistake. As a psychologist or met- 
aphysician he is not able to work out his theories 
on a natural basis, or with purely scientific ele- 
ments, and to help him through, he calls in the aid 
of the supernatural and divine. A personal God, 
with his attributes and titles, is discarded by being 
in language and thought undeified and reduced 
to an extreme abstraction, and then used as a 
metaphysical factor, denominated the "infinite," 
the "absolute," or the "unconditioned." It mat- 
ters not which term is used, the meaning is the 
same, and neither expresses necessarily a divine 
attribute. The term "infinite," when applied to 
time and space, means unlimited — that is, the 
human mind can neither grasp it nor put limits to 
it — but the term divine necessarily expresses an 
attribute of the Godhead, and is unmanageable as 
a factor in any system of metaphysics. 

§ 4. Theology in thk Form of Philosophy loses 
its True Character. 

The philosophy which is thus substituted for 
theology is monistic, and divides the speculative 
world into two schools of thought. The one re- 
gards matter as the only substance in the uni- 
verse ; hence, every substance known to man, 
even his own consciousness, is interpreted by me- 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 339 

chanical and physical law. The other school re- 
gards the one substance as spirit, and then this 
" infinite " and its " activities " constitute the uni- 
verse. In both systems theology makes a sorry 
appearance, and excites only contempt. In a 
material universe, physical law determines human 
conduct as absolutely as it does the waterfall, and 
renders moral action impossible. Idealism, in 
holding that all phenomena are the "activities" 
of the " infinite," also leaves no room for the ex- 
istence of a moral world. Thus we see that the 
mixing of theology with speculative philosophy 
eliminates from it the divine, the moral, and the 
spiritual elements, and nothing is left but a the- 
ory of metaphysics at war with a purely physical 
conception of the universe. Idealism starts with 
one all-embracing infinite, annihilates time and 
space, and then recognizes nothing but the activ- 
ities of this infinite. No thinker who has any 
respect for the teachings of the Scriptures, or for 
the voice of common sense, should admit that 
these and kindred speculations have any kin- 
ship whatever with either theology or religious 
truth. As the terms "infinite" and "absolute" 
are mere factors in an argument logically con- 
nected with other factors, they should be allowed 
to pass as such, and for nothing more. It has 
ever been so easy for speculative writers to let go 
their hold of the divine personality in God and 
the spiritual in man, and sink down into the 
realm of speculative reason and logic, that theol- 



34° 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ogy as well as philosophy has greatly suffered 
from this source, and they are never free from 
danger. When standing isolated, alone, asserting 
its own right to be, dressed in the garb of the in- 
finite, confident of its own inherent, unconquer- 
able strength, theology obstructs no line of 
thought ; it embraces the basal elements of relig- 
ion, and commands the highest respect. 

§ 5. Theology should be kept within its Own 
Sacred Limits. 

Theology has often been made to suffer dam- 
age and to give offense by being pushed out into 
every conceivable field of thought, as if all ques- 
tions must be adjudged by its authority. Out of 
this chimera has arisen all the " harmonies " and 
" reconciliations " with which the world is bur- 
dened in regard to "science and revelation." One 
of the first of these efforts occurred about five 
centuries ago. The telescope had begun to ex- 
plore the heavens, and it was found that moons 
were moving around Jupiter. Then the question 
was raised in regard to their number. On the 
instant the reconciler of "science and revelation" 
steps to the front with this reply : " Of course 
there must be twelve, because there were twelve 
apostles." Another great question had to be set- 
tled — the number of primary planets. A profes- 
sor in the University of Padua, agreeably to the 
spirit of the times, rendered the following an- 
swer : "As there • are only seven metals and 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 341 

seven days in the week, seven Churches of 
Asia and seven apertures in man's head, there 
could be only seven planets." The theologian 
and scientist seem to have been equally sincere 
and silly in their attempts to glorify God by pre- 
serving the unity and symmetry of the different 
parts and interests of the universe. What Lotze 
calls the mind's " craving " for unity, and its 
itching for harmony, never received a more ra- 
tional and complete gratification than in these 
instances. 

The attempts which have been made to settle 
all questions of astronomy, geology, biology, psy- 
chology, etc., in the light of the Scriptures, or, 
rather, certain interpretations of Scripture, has 
often subjected religion to much contempt. It is 
enough to make one's skin crawl, from his head 
to his toes, to hear a minister from the pulpit ac- 
count for the existence of the bones — whole skel- 
etons of monstrous animals, in swamps and 
beaver-meadows — and countless fossils of extinct 
genera in our rocks, by saying that God created and 
put them there. The fact is, the sciences — math- 
ematics, astronomy, geology, anatomy, and psy- 
chology, etc. — must speak for themselves; and if 
they are allowed that privilege, they will speak 
out the truth that is in them, and they can speak 
nothing else ; and, in the interest of truth, we will 
add that whilst they, or any one of them, have 
the floor, let theology maintain a respectful and 
self-respecting silence. 



342 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



§ 6. The Relation of Theology to Psychology. 

As theology is rooted in both God and man, 
its relation to psychology is very intimate, and it 
may make itself very offensive and suffer great 
injury by attempting to reduce both sciences to 
one. This danger arises from the lazy inclination 
of the mind to simplify and make easy its studies 
by reducing different lines of thought to unity, or 
by making one ingulf another. The fact is, there 
is a border-land which is common to both lines 
of thought, and each is strongly tempted to in- 
vade the territory of the other. Theology recog- 
nizes in man intellect, will, and an emotional 
nature, especially conscience, but simply in their 
moral relations. As a result of this contiguity of 
thought, the rationalistic psychologist, led on by 
his " craving for unity," is inclined to absorb the- 
ology in his science ; and, on the other hand, the 
theologian attempts to occupy the entire ground, 
that he may preserve the " harmony of science 
and religion." In both instances the compound 
of compounds thus formed is a woful distortion 
of both systems of truth. The better way would 
be to develop the science of psychology by intro- 
spection out of the elements of the mind, without 
the least regard to any other science. Then, iso- 
lated, alone, shining in its own light, and unmod- 
ified or distorted by anything foreign to it, we 
shall be able to see the mind as it is. How it 
came to be, or what its destiny, are questions 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 343 

which need not be raised. As the essence of 
mind lies wholly beyond our reach, the psychol- 
ogist may begin his studies with the inquiry, 
What are its powers ? What are their relations to 
each other and to the sense organs? And the 
more fully he studies mind as it is in the light 
of his own consciousness, and nothing else, the 
clearer and more correct will be his conception 
of its properties and powers. 

The expression, " the physiology of mind," 
is about as intelligent a conception of it as the 
expression "the square of a circle," or " the circle 
of a triangle," would be in geometry. In fact 
we can see nothing distinctly only as it is made 
to stand forth alone, away from the shadow ot 
other things, and appear in its own light. The- 
ology should receive the same mode of treat- 
ment, and nothing should be permitted to mar 
its distinctive individuality. Then, when we have 
the two sciences fully in hand, it will be very 
proper, by comparison and contrast, to examine 
the relation they sustain to each other. An im- 
portant inquiry will be, Do they, as separate and 
independent witnesses, testify to the same truth 
when occupying common ground ? Only in this 
one particular should we desire coalescence, or 
unity or harmony, between theology and psy- 
chology. 

But suppose we follow the fashion of the times, 
and engage in the work of reconciliation, what 
will be the necessary outcome? If we make pure 



344 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



psychology the standard of truth, then theology 
must be cramped and stretched, and warped and 
twisted in a thousand ways — mangled, in fact, be- 
yond recognition — to coalesce or harmonize with 
it, and psychology left to stand alone as the em- 
bodiment of both. Or if theology is made the 
standard of truth, then psychology must be sub- 
jected to like violence, that unity or agreement 
may be effected. Or if both sciences are so mod- 
ified that they will be able to blend and occupy 
common ground, then the compound will form a 
nameless fiction. 

If we allow theology to swallow up psychol- 
ogy, then ultimately, under the pressure of a re- 
morseless logic, God only will be recognized, and 
man's individuality will disappear. In his place 
we shall have, as the universe, the thought and 
activity of the Infinite with the capital "I" dis- 
carded. If, in this process, we take a step further, 
and, with Descartes, include matter or extension 
as a part of nature, then we land in the Panthe- 
ism of Spinoza, a form of Atheism. Further 
than this the harmonizing process can not be 
carried. 

§ 7. What may be learned from the Expe- 
rience of the Past. 

Let it be remembered that against religion, 
which is the love of God and man, there is really 
no war. There is none for the reason that it 
contains nothing against which a reasonable war- 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 345 

fare can be waged. But as much can not be said 
of the Church and theology. Ecclesiastical his- 
tory between the sixth and the sixteenth centur 
is largely composed of the struggle made by the 
Church to settle, by Scripture texts, questions of 
geography, astronomy, chemistry, anatomy, math- 
ematics, medicine, and even the most palpable 
facts of history. The theology of the times did 
not embrace or represent religion or truth of any 
kind, and in its most active features it was a dis- 
grace and a curse to humanity. Religion was 
made odious to millions of people, as is the case 
now, because it was burdened by Church corrup- 
tions and theological deformities. Theology de- 
cided that Roger Bacon was a bad man, not 
because he did not love God, but because he 
loved to study his works; and then the Church 
shut him up in prison, to the blushing disgrace 
of religion. His case is only one of thousands 
of the same kind that might be mentioned. 

During the last three centuries theology has 
learned that it was illegitimate and impossible to 
control or settle questions of science, and that 
enterprise has been thoroughly abandoned; but 
there is abroad a tendency that is quite as fatal to 
its simplicity and purity. Whenever a plausible 
system of speculative philosophy is given to the 
world, theology, in the person of its friends, feels 
constrained to make the acquaintance of the new- 
comer, and put on such airs as will be sure to 
establish friendly relations with it. By thus pat- 



346 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



ronizing a stranger of unknown character, whose 
stay may be transient, it has often suffered a loss 
of dignity and reputation. The example of Au- 
gustine has been imitated in every age since his 
time. Before becoming a Christian he was thor- 
oughly versed in Greek philosophy, and the fatal- 
ism it taught he had heartily embraced. The 
most far-reaching and enduring labor of his life 
was his successful attempt to bring theology into 
harmony with the doctrine of necessity. If at 
any point he failed, the deficiency was supplied at 
a later day by John Calvin. As a consequence, 
for more than one thousand years the beautiful 
form of religion was torn and tortured by decrees, 
election, foreordination, predestination, effectual 
calling, perseverance, vessels of wrath, vessels of 
glory, and such an arbitrary combination of love 
and hate as have caused millions of people to 
stand aghast and tremble, till thousands have fled 
for refuge to some form of infidelity. How differ- 
ent would have been the history of the Church 
had theology been content to occupy its own 
ground and let speculative philosophy alone ! Or 
if, in some of its Protean forms, speculative phi- 
losophy is worth fighting, let us not take the ark 
of God into the field, but make the attack with 
such weapons as can be captured from the enemy. 
Every system of thought contains within itself 
the elements of both its strength and weakness ; 
hence neither attack nor support from without 
can produce but little effect. If the theory of evo- 



CHURCH, THEOLOGY, OR RELIGION? 347 



lution, or materialism, is a true interpretation of 
the facts and laws of nature, it can not be over- 
thrown ; if not, it will ultimately fall of its own 
weight. In neither its defense nor in the attacks 
made upon it has theology any concern. All 
along the line where religion and what is true in 
evolution come into contact, we have not a doubt 
that there will be agreement in the lessons taught ; 
and away from that line the voice of theology 
need not be heard. 

Let us remember that religion is the love of 
God and man ; that theology is a guardian, stand- 
ing over it for the defense of its fundamental ele- 
ements ; that the Church is an agency to make 
religion effective ; that their sphere of activity is 
the realm of the divine, the intellectual, and the 
spiritual in man, and their purity will be easily 
preserved. As there is nothing in the universe 
that can come up and share with religion these 
heights, so it should refuse to go down for the 
sake of being brought into harmony with any 
system of speculative thought. 

Religion is the basal element, and its influence 
should be practically all-pervading in the king- 
dom of Christ. Theology, in structure and tend- 
ency, should always have been a simple fortress 
to religion — the practice of love to God and man. 
Neither the Church nor theology should have 
given its sanction to any act, or custom, or prac- 
tice which was not in harmony with religion and 
an honor to it. Had there been, during the Dark 



348 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



Ages, far less of theology and ecclesiasticism, and 
far more of religion, the history of the world 
would have been different from what it is, and far 
more honorable to man. 

When Church, theology, religion, and each 
separate science have their own place, stand forth 
in their own individuality and proper relations, 
like the different chords of the violin, then the har- 
mony will be perfect, the music sweet, and the 
world will yield to its charms — the kingdoms of 
this world will speedily become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and his Christ. 



CONCLUSION. 



349 



CONCLUSION. 

By the expression, 'Constitution of nature," 
we intend to designate the substance and laws of 
the physical world, the realm of life, and the laws 
by which it is governed; and the entire domain 
of humanity with its laws, and especially the re- 
lations of the parts to the whole, to each other, 
forming a harmonious world. The distinct parts 
of nature have, per se, nothing in common, and 
yet they are so nicely correlated to each other as 
to be subject to a common constitution, resulting 
in an all-comprehensive government. Man, as 
the head of creation, affords us a conspicuous ex- 
ample of this feature of nature. In the structure 
of his body matter, life, and mind are beautifully 
and harmoniously associated, though the three 
substances are utterly unlike each other. 

In taking leave of the theme which, for nearly 
a year, has been the toil and delight of such hours 
as we could command from other duties, we feel 
inclined to cast a backward glance over nature's 
vast realm, and note some of the religious ele- 
ments which stand out conspicuously in its con- 
stitution, and thus fix attention upon a line of 
thought which, in our judgment, will, when fully 
developed, go far toward ruling Atheism outside 



35° 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



the pale of debatable subjects. As a pioneer 
passes through a wilderness, blazing trees here 
and there, and thus indicates to such as may fol- 
low the route he has taken, so we claim only to 
have called attention to some features of nature, 
a more full and lucid development of which will 
leave infidelity no standing-ground whatever. 
Some of the difficulties encountered may not be 
settled beyond further controversy ; but they have 
not been minimized nor avoided. We have been 
bold to take positions which seemed to us to be 
of the first importance, that have not, so far as 
we know, in form, till now, been pressed into the 
service of Christianity. It is particularly to these 
that we would call special attention. 

i. It has seemed good to us to classify man as 
a part of nature, and to regard the laws of his 
being as a conspicuous element in the constitu- 
tion of nature. 

If the universe is composed of Creator and 
created, of the supernatural and the natural, then 
man's place is easily determined. He may hold 
the honors of the headship of nature, and still 
form a part of it ; and as an object of study, hu- 
manity constitutes its most instructive part. The 
philosopher who looks upon nature as composed 
exclusively of the physical worlds, needlessly im- 
poverishes his theme by leaving out of it its 
highest and most important features — the vital, 
the intellectual, the spiritual, and the moral. Man 
can not be classified as divine; and if denied a 



CONCLUSION. 



351 



place in nature, as a part of it, he is left isolated 
and alone — a position the facts will not warrant. 
As a part of nature he is related to every other 
part ; and as a created being — created in the 
image of his Maker — he is related to the Infi- 
nite One. 

Man unquestionably possesses a capacity for 
religion, and this capacity must be recognized as an 
element in the constitution of nature. The proof of 
this fact stands out as conspicuously on the face 
of history as on the page of revelation. The doc- 
trines of Christianity are given to develop, direct, 
and regulate the religious element found in hu- 
manity as a part of nature. Without the latter, 
the former would be of no value; for it would 
have no more application to man than to a bird or 
a stone. Neither Brahmanism, nor Buddhism, nor 
Christianity, nor any other form or expression of 
religion, could have ever obtained a footing on 
the earth had not the religious element been a 
part of the constitution of human nature. Poets 
and musicians have had great influence in the 
world because a measure of the poetic and mu- 
sical faculties is found in every human soul. An 
extreme crank finds sympathy nowhere, as he 
touches no chord of nature, and stands isolated and 
alone, an object of wonder or pity. All forms of 
religion owe their success to the fact that they 
touch the deepest, the strongest, and the most 
active springs in nature. Strike out of human 
history its religious development, and the residue 



352 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



would present us quite a different being ; and ex- 
isting facts abundantly demonstrate that as the 
force of the religious principle diminishes among 
a people, the more brutal and degraded they be- 
come. Religion is really the most elevating and 
broadening element of power the constitution of 
nature contains. We may see this not only as a 
fact, but we may see the reasons for it, inasmuch 
as it touches the whole man, God and eternity. 

2. In the undeniable fact that man, as a part 
of nature, without the lapse or respite of a mo- 
ment, is under moral government, an infinite moral 
Governor is proclaimed. 

All along the pathway of life, man finds him- 
self, at every step, in the presence of right and 
wrong, and necessity is laid upon him to refuse the 
one and accept the other. He must do the right 
or do the wrong. Between right and wrong the 
universe furnishes no neutral ground. To refuse 
or to avoid the right is to do a positive wrong. 
This simple truth is the core of religion; it goes 
down into the depths of divine government, and 
no weightier consideration can occupy the mind 
of man. 

The moral government which each man is con- 
scious touches directly himself, also touches in like 
manner every other intelligence in the domain of 
the Almighty. Man's conscience thus serves as a 
key by which he can unlock the moral department 
of the universe. Man can not get away from him- 
self, and the right or wrong of his life becomes a 



CONCLUSION. 



353 



part of his being. Such is the constitution of his 
nature, and it is in harmony with the whole. 

Since man in fact has violated the moral law 
of the universe, he has brought himself under the 
law of guilt and condemnation. Of his moral con- 
dition, in this respect, he is as conscious as he is 
of existence. Every thought of sin is the pressure 
upon him of a moral government, whose Governor 
must be all-seeing and infinite. In this condition 
moral law, or the constitution of nature, can render 
him no help, for he sustains to it the relation of 
antagonist. He is out of harmony and in a state 
of collision with the world he lives in. 

In the gospel, the religious element — found, 
also, in nature — becomes invested anew with the 
power of the Author of nature. The object is its 
restoration to man, and his readjustment to the 
system of nature. Christianity was given to re- 
pair the breach which had been made by trans- 
gression. The gospel, invested with the Divine 
Spirit, transcends nature, for its work is to restore 
and rebuild the religious element in the nature of 
man. Christianity is a supplementary creation, 
devised to save from inevitable ruin the victims 
of transgression — such as would avail themselves 
of its benefits. 

3. In the discussion of the constitution of na- 
ture we have frequently had occasion to notice the 
pregnant fact that it does not contain the elements 
of error or sin or evil of any kind. 

Every affirmative element of nature that is 
30 



354 ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



known, in every department — whether of matter, 
life, or mind — is good. Nevertheless, it must be 
admitted that evil, on an immense scale, exists in 
the world; but who can mention an evil which is 
not the result of the absence of some positive and 
possible good? An error is simply the absence of 
the truth in the case. The truth exists as a posi- 
tive element and as a part of nature. Bring for- 
ward the truth, and the error, with all its train of 
evils, will depart. Only in the absence of some 
truth is an error even conceivable. Death is but 
the vacuum left where life has been. Life is the 
reality — the positive existence — a part of the uni- 
verse ; death is but a name for the nonentity which 
characterizes its absence. These particulars will 
serve to illustrate what we mean by the absence 
of evil from the constitution of nature as a whole. 

If, then, the constitution of nature is good, 
creation as a whole is a work of benevolence. 
Much will be gained by the conception of evil as 
not an affirmative, positive reality — a part of na- 
ture — but as an incident resulting from the ab- 
sence of a good that was available. Where there 
is wealth there is no poverty; where there is 
bread there is no hunger; and to empty the world 
of its evils we have only to fill it with good. 

The absence of positive evil and the presence 
of a universe of affirmative good, proclaims, both 
negatively and positively, with the greatest possi- 
ble emphasis, the existence of an infinite, benefi- 
cent Creator and Governor. This fact, in the 



CONCLUSION. 



355 



language of Christianity, takes the form of "Our 
Father, which art in heaven," "The hairs of your 
head are numbered," "He notices the falling of 
the sparrow," "He hears the young ravens when 
they cry," and "Sends his rain on the just and 
the unjust." The constitution of nature and the 
Christian system differ on this point only in their 
mode of expression. The basal facts — the essen- 
tial thing in the case — are the same in both rep- 
resentations. If this position holds, the heaviest 
timbers in the citadel of Atheism are swept 
away. 

4. In the study of the constitution of nature 
we have been led, by unquestionable facts, to rec- 
ognize the freedom or self-directive action of the 
will, and in all other respects the prevalence of 
the law of necessity. 

We do not discount but exalt the character of 
God in saying that he is subject to the action of 
this law. He is necessarily divine, almighty, self- 
existent, and eternal. To affirm that God can not 
lie, or work an absurdity, is not, in any proper 
sense, to put limits upon his power; for such limi- 
tation is really an affirmative excellency, an ele- 
ment of perfection. In the character of God the 
right is so perfectly right that he can not do 
wrong; his truth is so absolutely true that the 
possibility of falsehood is excluded. What is this 
but saying that the essence or nature of God is 
unchangeable and perfect? 

The constitution of nature, as a vast, symmet- 



356 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



rical whole, is a unit, and, because perfect in 
every part, any change is impossible. * Each part 
is correlated to every other part of the vast struc- 
ture. All apparent physical evils are but tran- 
sient incidents in the operation of laws which are 
absolutely perfect, and to find fault with them — 
trifles as compared with the greatness of the 
whole — is unworthy of a thoughtful, candid mind. 
The constitution of nature must be universal, 
touching every atom and every energy in the uni- 
verse, or it can not exist at all. Each department 
and each item must be subordinate to the other 
departments, that the beauty and harmony of the 
whole may be realized. 

The benefits resulting from the law of neces- 
sity may be seen if we will reflect upon what the 
world would be if everything came about in a 
hap-hazard way. Suppose the sun rose at all 
hours, giving us days and nights of uncertain 
length ; that the seasons were so that we could 
not tell which one would come next; that the 
same seed would produce any kind of harvest; 
and that like uncertainty and confusion every- 
where prevailed, — what sort of a world would this 
be ? And what would we think of its creator and 
governor? The law of necessity, in its own 
proper realm, we as fully recognized in Christian- 
ity as in nature; and may it not be taken as an 
expression of benevolent design? The exception 
of the will to this law makes this a moral world. 

5. The most difficult and important question 



CONCLUSION. 



357 



we have been required to handle is the relation 
God sustains to the reign of lav/. • 

Any conception of God, whether idealistic, 
pantheistic, or theological, which makes him the 
only energy in the universe, at the same time 
makes him the author of sin, and must be in- 
stantly rejected ; and then, at the same moment, 
we must look upon the world as having God for 
its governor, though at the same time it is under 
the reign of law. The idealist, in representing us 
as putting God " outside " of the universe, betrays 
the fact that his conceptions of God are thor- 
oughly materialistic; that God is subject to the 
control of space relations. He can conceive of 
none but an inside God; that is, of an infinite — 
he does not say what, hence anything — whose in- 
terior activities give us the appearance of a uni- 
verse — only that, and nothing more. But we can 
not conceive God as God, and, at the same time, 
regard him as a part of the world he has made or 
makes. 

It is clear to us that the constitution of na- 
ture is a unit; that its parts, though infinite in 
number, are symmetrical and harmonious ; that, 
as the product of Infinite Wisdom, it is perfect; 
and that as such no part can be changed without 
an injury to the whole. If such be the facts in 
the case, then the infidel's conception of a per- 
sonal arbitrary government of God loses all its 
force. We can not believe that nature estab- 
lished its own laws, nor that its laws are self- 



358 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



sustaining. All that we can conceive of wisdom 
and power is revealed to us through nature ; and 
should any one affirm that God was present, and 
in* some way, utterly inconceivable, incorporate 
(relatively, not organically), in the laws and con- 
stitution of the universe, we should find no fault 
with the idea nor with the language in which it 
was expressed. Such incorporation in law may 
be analogous to the incarnation. 

We keep before us the infinite realm of reality, 
judge each part in its relation to the whole, and 
shall refrain from finding fault with what is till 
we can suggest improvement. If change is to be 
made, it must be done in accordance with law, 
and with due reference to its bearing upon all 
other things. More than half the battle with 
Atheism is to be fought out on this ground. We 
are confident that our position is correct, though 
a further exposition of it may be necessary to sat- 
isfy all minds. After all, is it not wise to confess 
that God's relation to law is a question which is 
placed beyond the reach of our faculties? Mind 
in some particulars governs the body ; but how, no 
philosophy can explain. Why, then, should we 
be asked to show the adjustment of God's rela- 
tion to the universe? 

6. In no one particular does the religious ele- 
ment of the constitution of nature and of Chris- 
tianity meet and blend into one result more com- 
pletely than in the nature of virtue and outcome 
of character. 



CONCLUSION. 



359 



It is clearly written on every page of nature 
that conformity to law, physical, mental, moral, 
spiritual, and divine, secures to man the highest 
blessedness that it is possible for him to enjoy, 
and revelation teaches that " to fear God and 
keep his commandments is the whole duty of man." 
Human experience in the actual affairs of life is 
the best proof we can have of the truthfulness or 
falsity of these representations. It will not be 
denied that there is much of suffering in this 
world, and the greater part of it is kept locked up 
in the human heart, and never sees the light of 
day. What is the cause and origin of this suffer- 
ing? Some of it may spring from virtue. A 
noble father suffers all the more over the profligacy 
of the son because he is noble. The good will 
grieve for the vile, when the vile care nothing for 
their own vileness. But the pains and tears of 
virtue are a sweet relief. Whence the bitter- 
ness, the wormwood, the gall, the remorse, and 
the despair which make up largely the sufferings 
of earth ? In regard to this whole field of human 
experience, nature and the Bible teach the same 
thing, and mutually interpret and enlarge each 
other's meaning. The basal element of religion 
is moral, involving the spiritual, and the begin- 
ning of character we see here is capable of devel- 
oping, as it unfolds into all that we can conceive 
heaven and hell to be. If some souls are happy 
and others wretched, if some are saved and 
others lost, it is because the same constitutional 



360 



ANATOMY OF ATHEISM. 



law requires it. The same thing is the savor 
of life unto life to one class, and of death unto 
death to the opposite class, as the rain which ex- 
tinguishes the blaze will also make the flowers 
bloom. The Atheistic argument, therefore, which 
affirms that, if a God exist, he must arbitrarily fill 
the cup of one with bitterness, and another with 
bliss, disappears. Both nature and the Bible pro- 
claim it false. That, in the main and long run, 
happiness and honor and glory are the outcome 
of character formed in obedience to law, and 
wretchedness and shame and degradation are also 
the outcome of character formed in disobedience 
to law, both nature and Christianity declare ; hence 
the testimony of both must be true. 

The six great truths which we have men- 
tioned embrace all the essential elements of prac- 
tical Christianity. Standing out as they do on 
the face of nature as conspicuously as any other 
feature of it, and most fully and clearly expressed 
in the written Word, we do not see how their 
truthfulness can be denied. What is truth? Is 
it not reality? And what can be real if not the 
palpable things of nature? As these elements 
of religion are the observed realities of the world 
each one lives in, and of the whole universe, their 
truthfulness does not depend upon the authority 
of the Bible. Could it be shown that the Scriptures 
were not inspired ; that miracles were not wrought 
by Christ as we understand them ; that Moses did 
make mistakes, and that there have been inter- 



CONCLUSION. 



361 



polations in the New Testament, the fact would 
still remain, that nature and the Scriptures unite 
in teaching all the fundamental elements of relig- 
ion. If Christianity is false, nature is also a lie. 

Will it be denied that nature, at base, has a 
constitutional structure, or will it be urged that 
we have given to it a false interpretation? We 
have aimed to avoid all points whose truth was 
not self-evident, and we feel confident that no 
mistake has been made. Could the skeptic for 
one hour be put in possession of the sin-pardoning 
power of Christianity, he would then be in a posi- 
tion to pass judgment upon this subject. The 
true groundwork of faith is not the wisdom of 
man, but the power of God. This, as one of the 
essential elements of religion, is an important fac- 
tor in the case, and the one who has it not is 
responsible for its absence. 

31 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abrahamic covenant, the root of 

revealed religion, 330. 
Air , how formed, 148. 
Animal food, 167. 

Atheism not based on affirmative 
principles, 33; a system of deni- 
als, 34, 41 ; an attempt to fill a con- 
scious vacuum in the mind, 35 ; 
the battle-ground of, 93 ; the out- 
come of Pantheism, 123; can exist 
only in the absence of the theory 
of government by law, 130 ; holds 
only degrading conceptions of hu- 
manity, 198; based on some scheme 
of necessity, 206. 

Atoms, the entity and individual- 
ity of matter, 23; belong to the 
"unseen universe," 23; of un- 
known essence, 23. 

Atonement, based on the principle 
of one thing created for another, 
204. 

Antiquity, obscurity of, 317. 

B. 

Being, essence of unknown, 27. 
Bible, not a creator but a revealer 

of existing truths, 309. 
Bowne, Professor, on " spiritual 

rubbish," 233. 
Butler, Bishop, his conception of 

man as a spirit entity, 241 ; on the 

inward constitution of character, 

177. 

Butler, Hon. B. F., on the sanitary 
arrangements of Moses in the 
wilderness, 324. 

C. 

Constitution of nature, should be 
studied as a whole, 96, 192 ; because 
perfect, unchangeable, 356 ; pro- 
nounced "good" by its Creator, 
160. 

Crime, being a violation of the con- 
stitution of nature, it is right and 
becoming that it be attended by 
misery, 161. 



Character, its force obscured by 
the present mixed condition of 
things, 267; the basis of destiny 
good or bad, 183 ; the same as seen 
in the Bible and philosophy, 271 ; 
the outcome of character a heaven 
or a hell, 269, 272 ; as such its truth 
is admitted by the infidel, 288. 

Chalmers on the power of character 
as an element of the constitution 
of nature, 185 ; all forms of fatal- 
ity a perversion of nature, 226; 
conscience as a part of the con- 
stitution of nature, 201. 

Christ as an interpreter of the re- 
ligious element in nature, 292. 

Church, its invasion by science and 
the invader of science, 334. 

Cudworth on the doctrine of neces- 
sity, 334- 

D. 

Darwin, was he an Atheist? 39. 
Descartes on the sovereignty of 
God, 222. 

Dick on theological necessity, 228; 
on the foreordination of volitions, 
239- 

Decalogue of divine origin, 328. 
Diderot on necessity, 211. 

E. 

Energy, infinite, what it would be 
if without wisdom, 25. 

Evil not a part of the constitution 
of nature, 26; the absence of a 
possible good, 27; origin of evil, 
158 ; apparent, may be a real bless- 
ing, 176. 

Edwards on fatalism, 223 ; on God's 

relation to evil, 260. 
Emmons makes God the author of 

sin, 258. 

G. 

God, prevalence of the idea of, 21 : 
humanity, as an oracle, proclaims 
his existence, 22 ; no part of the 
universe he created, 28 ; sole oc- 

363 



364 



INDEX. 



cupant of the divine realm, 28, 204 ; 
has left his impress 011 the things 
he created, 29; his relation to the 
things he made, 29, 179 ; God and 
nature compose the universe, 140; 
moral government of can not be 
escaped, 239. 

H. 

Hindu conception of God, 22. 
Human body an expression of pur- 
pose, 25. 

Humanity proclaims the existence 

of God, 35. 
Humboldt, how he drifted into 

Atheism, 37. 
Hell, the problem of, i6r. 
Hume on necessity, 212. 

I. 

Infinite, the realm of, 22 ; must be 
a something, 24 ; as applied to 
time and space. 24. 

Ingersoll, the representative Athe- 
ist, 46 , characteristics of the man, 
47 ; his acquisitions, 47 ; incapable 
of dealing with abstract truths, 
55; a scoffer of religion, 59: has 
no idea of nature governed bylaw, 
60 ; the kind of a God he would 
worship, 63 ; his infidelity brings 
him no rest, 65 ; objects to nature 
and the Bible on the same ground, 
66 ; assumes that if a God exists, 
he must be the author of all evil, 
68 ; his superficial views, 78 ; ut- 
terly unqualified to judge of re- 
ligion, 72 ; his arguments made up 
of mere fragments of truth, 76 ; 
himself a one-sided man, 78; the 
true spirit of inquiry lacking, 78; 
his suggestions for improving na- 
ture, 107, 108; his one advantage, 
194 J sample of his spirt, the vic- 
tim of an unfortunate education, 
258; his weak attempt at meta- 
physics, 286. 

Intelligence in man appreciates in- 
telligence in his Maker, 190. 

Idealistic philosophy identical with 
fatalism, 230, 232. 

Idealism refuted, 286. 

K. 

Kant, sensitiveness to the v t astness 
of the universe, 22. 



L. 

L,iFE a part of the created universe, 
23 ; an element in the constitution 
of nature, 23 ; the root of a pecul- 
iar energy, 25; its correlations, 
25 ; opinions of M. Pasteur, M. 
Dumas, etc., 171. 

I,aw commensurate with the differ- 
ent departments of the universe, 
178, 180 ; an expression of divine 
will and the nature of the thing 
governed, 30, 187 ; the wisdom and 
will of God incorporate in, 135; 
the relation of liberty to and its 
action in the formation of char- 
acter, 183, 270; apparent irregu- 
larities only seeming, 186. 

I^aw an expression of divine wis- 
dom, 187. 

M. 

Man, proper conception of, 241 ; no 
part of the mechanism of nature, 
274 ; maker of his own destiny, 
100 ; can be correctly understood 
only as viewed in connection with 
his Maker, 200 ; possesses the 
religious capacity, capable of 
growth, 39. 

Materialism leads to Atheism, 208. 

Moses, his policy to elevate the He- 
brews, 323. 

Mt. Sinai, its significance to the 
Hebrew, 327. 

Matter, its constitution perfect, 112, 
113 ; poisons no exception, 115 ; 
any change in any kind of mat- 
ter would destroy the constitution 
of nature, 116 ; perverted views of 
matter, 117; interaction of differ- 
ent kinds of matter, 118; a self 
centered source of energy, 120 ; in- 
capable of self-organization, 164 ; 
fourteen kinds correlated to life, 
164 ; of unknown essence, 165. 

Mind belongs to the realm of ideas, 
24 ; a self-directive agent, 245 ; acts 
in accordance with laws of its own 
substance, 245; its capacity for 
joy or woe, 265; susceptibility to 
change, 266. 

N. 

Nature, misconceptions of its facts, 
102; its laws to be distinguished 
from its phenomena, 121 ; its laws 



INDEX. 



365 



and expressions of truth and re- 
ality, 128 ; religion an element in 
the constitution of nature, 291; 
man a part of nature, 291 ; unites 
with the Bible, and teaches the 
same lessons concerning man, 
God, and religion, 295; the first 
revelation, 297; unites as a •wit- 
ness to the truth of religion, 298 ; 
its testimony more than its anal- 
ogy to religion, 300 ; testimony 
important only when it touches 
the realm of religion, 301; meets 
revelation in God and man, 309. 
Nations incorporate in their insti- 
tutions the spirit of different pe- 
riods, 320 ; Jewish nation, origin 
of, 321 ; condition of the Hebrew 
mind at the time, 322. 

P. 

Person, no other definite concep- 
tion of God can be formed in the 
mind, 27 ; should be studied in 
the light of philosophy and relig- 
ion, 104. 

Pantheism, what leads to it? 120. 

Psychology, importance of a correct 
system of, 242 ; its elements re- 
viewed, 240. 

R. 

Religion incorporated in the con- 
stitution of nature, 21 ; what it is, 
29, 31 ; embraces the elements of 
law, 30 ; caricatured by the infidel. 
282 ; distinguished from ecclesias- 
ticism and theology, 333 ; all forms 
presuppose the existence of the 
religious faculty in man, 351 ; re- 
view of the argument, 349. 

S. 

Silicon, the part it acts in nature, 25. 

Sin, God not its author, 260 ; its haz- 
ards rendered a revelation neces- 
sary, 247. 

Secchi, his testimony as a natural- 
ist, 30. 

Spencer, Herbert, an agnostic, 44. 

Spinoza on necessity, 216. 

Sugar, a molecule of, a marvelous 

expression of divine wisdom and 

power, 145. 



Suffering a means of mental and 

moral discipline, 175. 
Scripture, its conception of man, 

198, 199; perversions of, 179, 280, 

283. 

T. 

Theology pressed into the service 
of Fatalism and Atheism, 220, 221 ; 
supported by the great names of 
Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, Dick, 
et al., 223 ; as distinguished from 
the gospel and in alliance with 
philosophy, 338 ; pure only when 
independent, 340; closely related 
to psychology, 340 ; not to be used 
to decide scientific questions, 340. 

Tyndall, Dr. John, his experience 
of Atheism, 36. 

U. 

Universe, not being divine, though 
infinite, no invasion of the realm 
of the Almighty, 122. 

Upham, Professor, on the mind, 241. 

V. 

Virtue an element of nature and 
source of felicity, 153 ; happiness 
not subject to external environ- 
ments, 154 ; may be the cause of 
suffering, 156, 173 ; can not be ne- 
cessitated, 237; essence of, 254. 

W. 

World, a revelation of its Creator, 
and display of energy, wisdom, 
and goodness, 24, 157. 

Wisdom, creation a dictate of, 157; 
incorporate in instinct, 2$. 

Worship, tendency of humanity 
thereto, 34. 

Will, man invested with the power 
of contrary choice, 153, 210; the 
ground of human responsibility, 
237 ; an exposition of, 243 ; its per- 
version by a false psychology, 
256 ; its responsibility, 261 ; rela- 
tion to motives, 244. 

Z. 

Zeus-pater, Jupiter, the Heaven- 
father, God of the Greeks, 91. 



H 128 82 



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